Willie Williamson       Kevin Barry                SA1971.214    .4

Kevin Barry was 18 years old when he was hanged at Mountjoy Jail  on November 1, 1920 for his part in a raid in Dublin which went wrong and resulted in a gun battle when three British soldiers were killed. Kevin Barrie was captured soon after but his ill-treatment in jail and his death proved to be a huge propaganda victory for the Irish Republican Army.  This, penned soon after Kevin Barry’s death proved to be one of the most popular of Irish songs, though the author is unknown.  Roud Index no. 3014.

In Mountjoy jail one Monday morning,
High upon the gallows tree,
Kevin Barry gave his young life
For the sake of liberty.
Just a lad of eighteen summers,
Yet no body can deny,
As he walked to death that morning
Proudly held his head on high.

Another martyr for old Ireland,
Another murder for the crown,
English laws and English ways
Cannot break their spirits down.
Lads like Barry are no cowards,
Like the foe they will not fly;
Lads like Barry will free old Ireland,
For her sake they’ll live and die.

Proudly standing to attention
As he bade his last farewell
To his broken hearted mother,
For whose grief no-one can tell.
The cause he proudly cherished
This sad parting that will be;
So to death while softly smiling
That old Ireland should  be free.

Another martyr for old Ireland,
Another murder for the crown,
English laws and English ways
Cannot break their spirits down.
Lads like Barry are no cowards,
From the foe they will not fly;
Lads like Barry will free old Ireland,
For her sake they’ll live and die.