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God Save Ireland an instant success


The song God Save Ireland was the anthem of the Fenian movement and was basically the Irish anthem, until the adoption of Amhrán na bhFiann.
The lyrics were by a Corkman, Timothy Daniel O’Sullivan and were written to the music of the American Civil War song, Tramp Tramp Tramp The Boys Are Marching, which was popular in Ireland at the time. It became immediately popular and the author wrote that the day after it was published, he heard it sung by a group of people on a tram in Howth.
The song was inspired by the last words of three Irishmen, who had been condemned to death for their part in rescuing a Fenian prisoner in Manchester. A policeman was killed in the rescue, following which 30 Irishmen were arrested. Five were tried for murder, convicted and sentenced to death.
Three of them, William Allen, Michael Larkin and Michael O’Brien, were executed on November 23, 1867. They protested their innocence right to the end. They have come to be known as the Manchester Martyrs. Protests were held all over the world and more memorials have been erected to their memory than any other group in Irish history. These include memorials in both Kilrush and Ennis.
TD O’Sullivan was born in Bantry in 1827 and as a young man he submitted poems to The Nation, where his brother, Alexander, was assistant editor. In view of their later life, it is ironic that Alexander was sentenced to death by the Fenian movement in 1858 for publishing articles that led to the imprisonment of O’Donovan Rossa. Both brothers went on to become MPs and took opposite sides during the Parnell split.
TD was also Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1886 and was imprisoned in Tullamore Jail for his involvement with the Land League. Because he was pro-Parnell, he was told by local clergy in his constituency, Donegal, that neither they nor their bishop would tolerate him standing again in the election of 1900. He bowed to the inevitable and left politics.
He followed this by writing Recollections of Troubled Times in Irish Politics, where he traced the great moments in 19th Century Irish History.  He published four volumes of poems and songs, which also included Deep in Canadian Woods.
The British authorities refused to release the bodies of Allen, Larkin and O’Brien. They were initially buried in the prison and when that was demolished, they were re interred in the newly built Strangeways. Because of the refusal, there were many symbolic funeral processions held all over the world.
One of the biggest was held in Dublin on December 8, 1867. God Save Ireland had been published the previous day and the chorus was widely used that day. It is estimated that over 80,000 lined the route and marched behind three hearses carrying three black coffins.
The cortege wound its way to Glasnevin Cemetery, where the oration was delivered by John Mitchell. Mitchell had been transported to Bermuda and then to Van Diemens Land for his involvement with the Young Irelanders but he escaped to America and had returned to Ireland earlier that year.
The song God Save Ireland was published in Dublin on December 7 and the commemorative funeral for the Manchester Martyrs was held on December 8 in 1867, 132 years ago this week.

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