Thursday, January 11, 2024

Kelly the Boy From Killan - the Dubliners

Kelly the Boy From Killan - the Dubliners
2:31
More Of the Hard Stuff, 1967 
Written by Patrick Joseph McCall, 1898

John Kelly was a real-life United Irish leader who fought in the Wexford Rebellion of 1798.  During the battle, Kelly was wounded in the leg. He was moved to Wexford to recuperate but after the fall of Wexford on 21 June was dragged from his bed, tried and sentenced to death.  As usual in Irish rebel songs, hagiography can rear its head: "Tell me who is that giant with the gold curling hair / He who rides at the head of your band? / Seven feet is his height with some inches to spare / And he looks like a king in command."  This rendition is a rousing anthem, proud even in the jaws of defeat, as only the Dubliners can belt it out.

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