Henry's Songbook

Chorus:
Oh forget not the boys of Kilmichael
Those brave boys both gallant and true
They fought with Tom Barry's bold column
And conquered the red, white and blue

Whilst we honour in song and in story
The memory of Pearse and McBride
Whose names are illumined in glory
With martyrs that long since have died
Oh forget not the boys of Kilmichael
Who feared not the ice and the foe
Oh the day that they marched into battle
They laid all the Black and Tans low

On the twenty eighth day of November
The Tans left the town of Macroom
They were seated in Crossley tenders
Which brought them right into their doom
They were on the high road to Kilmichael
And never expecting to stall
'Twas there that the boys of the column
They made a clear sweep of them all

The sun in the west it was sinking
'Twas the eve of a cold winter's day
When the Tans we were eagerly waiting
Sailed into the spot where we lay
And over the hill went the echo
The peal of the rifles and guns
And the smoke from their lorries bore tidings
That the boys of Kilmichael had won

The battle being over at twilight
And there in that glen so obscure
We threw down our rifles and bayonets
And made our way back to Granure
And high over Dunmanway town, my boys
They sang of the brave and the true
Of the men from Tom Barry's bold column
Who conquered the red, white and blue

There are some who will blush at the mention
Of Connolly, Pearse and McBride
And history's new scribes in derision
The pages of valour deny
But sure here's to the boys who cried, Freedom!
When Ireland was nailed to the mast
And they fought with Tom Barry's bold column
To give us our freedom at last

Final chorus:
So forget not the boys of Kilmichael
Those brave boys both gallant and true
They fought 'neath the green flag of Erin
And conquered the red, white and blue

(as sung by Jimmy Crowley)

Tune: Rosin the Beau

[1998:] Songs from the War of Independence have become so frowned upon in post-modern Ireland that young people are being denied any recourse to national pride, landscape, legends or any form of heroism, all very necessary components of the Irish psyche. For all those reasons, I asked the Cork poet Patrick Galvin to write an extra verse and dispatch a broadside in the direction of the historical revisionists. (Jimmy Crowley, notes 'Uncorked!')

See also
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=36328#505195
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47740 The Boys of Kilmichael