Herosongs: Where History meets Song Episode 2 Promo

After the Irish Rebellions of 1798 and 1803 there is an outpouring of songs written about the events and about the executed United Irishmen Henry Joy McCracken and Robert Emmet. In this episode of Herosongs presenter Therese McIntyre, explores the hero behind the songs ‘Henry Joy McCracken’ and ‘Bold Robert Emmet’ as well as ‘Dunlavin Green’ – the ballad bearing witness to the mass execution in May 1798 of rebels on Dunlavin Green. Historians Maura Cronin of Mary Immaculate College Limerick and Kevin Whelan of the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Patrick Geoghegan of Trinity College and archivist and author of ‘The Age of Revolution in the Irish Song Tradition 1776-1815’ Terry Moylan, share their knowledge of the period and their concept of the songs. Singer Jerry O’Reilly, a member of the Góilín traditional singers club remembers how he first heard the song about Robert Emmet with his grandfather singing it; “It’s called The Bold Robert Emmet. And when I sing this song, it reminds me of great evenings spent at my grandparents’ cottage in Donnybrook in the late 40s, early 50s.” We also hear from Derek Warfield, singer and member of the Young Wolfe Tones who first recorded the song ‘The Bold Robert Emmet’ in 2001.

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