Gearóid Ó LoingsighA female Irish football team, who fortunately had ne’er a man dressed as a woman playing for them, beat Scotland 1-0 and qualified for the World Cup.

The Irish women's football team celebrate qualifying for a major tournament for the first time.

It should have been a cause for celebration. Well, it was, but the celebration turned out to be controversial to the great and good. The players sang Celtic Symphony in the dressing room.(1) The song was written by The Wolfe Tones to celebrate the centenary of Celtic F.C. and the lyrics indicate as much. However, it also includes the refrain Ooh Aah, Up the ‘RA.

This upset the great and good. Wee Fenian brats should know their place and celebrate only by singing approved songs. Having beaten Scotland they should have sung the British National Anthem, A.K.A God Save the King which once included the following choice lyrics about Scotland.

Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,
May by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save the King.

That this verse began its history as a prayer by army chaplains, during the Jacobite rebellions tells you everything you need to know about it. Though that verse was quietly dropped, the Brit Anthem being a moveable feast, like an epic poem you can pick and choose verses from when you put it to music. Though it still talks of “scattering enemies”.

The Brits and the West Brits objected strongly to what these young women had done. They didn’t know their place and how to bow to their betters. Even that infamous right-wing extremist, John Taylor, now known as Lord Kilcooney objected to it.(2) 

Notes

(1) The Wolfe Tones version of the son can be heard here  and the women singing.

(2) See.

Continue reading @ Socialist Democracy.

⏩ Gearóid Ó Loingsigh is a political and human rights activist in Latin America.

Songs That Shall Not Be Sung, Those That Shall Not Be Named

Gearóid Ó LoingsighA female Irish football team, who fortunately had ne’er a man dressed as a woman playing for them, beat Scotland 1-0 and qualified for the World Cup.

The Irish women's football team celebrate qualifying for a major tournament for the first time.

It should have been a cause for celebration. Well, it was, but the celebration turned out to be controversial to the great and good. The players sang Celtic Symphony in the dressing room.(1) The song was written by The Wolfe Tones to celebrate the centenary of Celtic F.C. and the lyrics indicate as much. However, it also includes the refrain Ooh Aah, Up the ‘RA.

This upset the great and good. Wee Fenian brats should know their place and celebrate only by singing approved songs. Having beaten Scotland they should have sung the British National Anthem, A.K.A God Save the King which once included the following choice lyrics about Scotland.

Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,
May by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save the King.

That this verse began its history as a prayer by army chaplains, during the Jacobite rebellions tells you everything you need to know about it. Though that verse was quietly dropped, the Brit Anthem being a moveable feast, like an epic poem you can pick and choose verses from when you put it to music. Though it still talks of “scattering enemies”.

The Brits and the West Brits objected strongly to what these young women had done. They didn’t know their place and how to bow to their betters. Even that infamous right-wing extremist, John Taylor, now known as Lord Kilcooney objected to it.(2) 

Notes

(1) The Wolfe Tones version of the son can be heard here  and the women singing.

(2) See.

Continue reading @ Socialist Democracy.

⏩ Gearóid Ó Loingsigh is a political and human rights activist in Latin America.

15 comments:

  1. It upset loved ones of PIRA victims such as Ann Travers and Austin Stack who have been mercilessly trolled by Shinnerbots for speaking out about it.


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    1. There is no right not to be offended.

      It is a very catchy tune and I doubt very much if the people singing it were all IRA supporters or meant to offend anybody. I guess some of the team must be made up of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail voters - hardly glorifiers of the Provisional IRA.

      And what if the song is sang to endorse the IRA that carried out Narrowwater? Not many nationalists gonna get upset about that.

      And what if the women claim they were singing about the IRA of the War of Independence? What could possibly be wrong about that? Next week there will be a lot of those who kick up about that incident traipsing out to honour British war criminals.

      The unionist MOPEs - Most Offended People Ever - should catch a grip and focus on what is really intended to offend - for example, the desecration of floral tributes to those killed at Narrow Water.

      I identify very much with the phrase for one reason - it was a cry of defiance during the blanket protest: when the governor came into the cells to try and adjudicate for our incessant breach of prison rules, it is what we would roar in his face.

      If somebody was to shout it into Ann Travers' face, I would tell them to fuck away off. It would be deliberately offensive
      Singing in a locker room, not a big issue. I could understand anger if were they on a podium for a medal and sang it.

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  2. It was shouted at her metaphorically on Twitter. That was the point I was trying to make.

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  3. There's a concerted effort by the Unionist/Loyalist MOPEs to have songs/slogans such as "up the 'RA" conflated with the Billy Boys. Others have conflated the tasteless singing of "Lizzie's in a box" with sectarian songs, and iirc, even the troglodyte singing about the murder of Michaela McAreavey.

    There's a lot to unpack there, but I'd love it is a unionist voice, perhaps one from the Quill, wrote a piece about why celebrating the (natural) death of the British Commonwealth's Head of State is on a par with celebrating the horrific murder of a politically uninvolved Catholic woman.

    I mean this with total sincerity - I would really appreciate a voice from within Unionism/loyalism to explain how and why personally identifying being "up to our knees in Fenian blood" is the same as singing "ooh, ahh, up the 'RA." Tto be clear, I absolutely condemn the "Lizzie's in a box" bullshit, but I think the motivation is political, whereas the singing about Michaela's death is rancid sectarian hatred in audible form.

    I personally cringe at "ooh, ahh, up the 'RA" - it's uncontextualised, unsophisticated nonsense.

    Is there a PUL equivalent to Black & Tans, or Lonely Banna Strand? Even Broad Black Brimmer. Historical songs that tell a story.

    For what it's worth, The Sash is one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard, and the lyrics are not in the slightest bit offensive to me. I think it's a classic Irish folk song. As ever, context is everything. I knew a guy whose nose didn't always point the way it does now, because he decided to offer a rendition of The Sash in a pub with a few pugilistic Hibs fans.

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    1. I'm not sure what substantive difference would exist between political hatred and sectarian hatred. Lizzie's in a box is condemned absolutely by you because you feel it merits absolute condemnation. Is there any stronger way to condemn the singing about Michaela? Already there is an implicit equivalence.

      I think if we wish to complain about the Michaela singing we slide down the scale if we fail, when asked, to acknowledge the inappropriateness of the Lizzie in a box singing. Both are just triumphalist glorification of the death of someone whose life had no value to the singers.

      Personally, I found the singing about Michaela much more visceral than the Lizzie in a box singing.

      I personally cringe at "ooh, ahh, up the 'RA" - it's uncontextualised, unsophisticated nonsense. That feeling is probably more widespread than we might at first think.The chant itself does not annoy me because I identify with it so much given that it was a chant of defiance to a pretty brutal regime.

      I don't see how the footballers can be accused by the Unionist MOPES of supporting the IRA. I guess even if during the Felie in West Belfast if the crowd sang "ooh, ah, up the Fleadh" the MOPEs would still complain about it, alleging that its provenance needs brought into the context.



      Quincey Dougan could do a good piece on it given his background in loyalist bands but he might feel uncomfortable writing it for the blog.

      Delete
    2. "I would really appreciate a voice from within Unionism/loyalism to explain how and why personally identifying being "up to our knees in Fenian blood" is the same as singing "ooh, ahh, up the 'RA."

      Brandon, because the IRA is viewed as a purely sectarian killing machine which targeted innocent Protestants particularly in Belfast, and especially on this anniversary of the Shankill Bomb. The bollocks about it being from another song is irrelevant. But as far as I can see it was a bunch of young women who had no experience of the conflict so I wouldn't really take grave offence to it.

      Calling PUL "MOPE"'s is laughable given the Shinners propaganda over the years too. They must walk about with chalk in their pockets the love playing the victim that much.

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    3. And there are plenty of songs on a par, like Derry's Walls, The Green Grassy slopes et al. What tunes do you think all the bands play on the twelfth? It'd be pretty boring if they only knew 2 songs!

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    4. Steve - MOPE is what you might call a return of the serve. It was used to dismiss nationalist concerns - Following on from Liam Kennedy having coined the term, Most Oppressed People Ever, the word oppressed is changed to offended.
      The actuality is that neither nationalists nor unionists match the term. Nor are they meant to. It is the discursive equivalent of a caricature which by their nature are not meant to be accurate representations, but are merely used to inflate, by distortion, a point.

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    5. I've the utmost respect for you Anthony, I believe you are man of ethical courage, wisened reason and noble compassion but sometimes I think you rationalize the obvious through a philosophical lense. Please don't think I'm blowing smoke up yer arse but sometimes I think you can't accept a spade is a spade.

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    6. Steve - and there was me thinking I shunned calling a spade a shovel!!

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  4. @ AM

    "I'm not sure what substantive difference would exist between political hatred and sectarian hatred."

    My way of looking at it is that political hatred is directed against persons or entities because of what they do, whilst sectarian hatred is based simply on who they are.

    I agree that the singing about Michaela was more visceral - and came from a much darker psychological conditioning than "Lizzie's in a box."

    In Henry McDonald's novel Two Tribes, he wrote of nationalist fans singing a song in the tune to Old MacDonald, but with "Lord Mountbatten had a boat ... and on that boat he had a bomb" whilst unionist fans sang "there's only one Basher Bates." I think that's essentially illustrative of what the respective cultures permit, or even foster.

    I think it was Peter that mentioned Celtic fans singing about Lee Rigby. I was thinking about this today - as I've said, the only singing I've heard about Lee Rigby was Hearts fans with "there's only one Lee Rigby" - I don't doubt that some Celtic fans sang a celebratory or insulting song about Mr Rigby's despicable killing, but essentially both sets of fans turned a life cruelly ended into a political football.

    Intellectually, I can't see a difference between celebrating Lee Rigby's death and the celebratory chant of Narrow Water - "18 Brits got blown to bits" - but instinctively, rightly or wrongly, I feel it differently.

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  5. @ Steve R

    MOPEs can be unionist, nationalist, republican, or loyalist, or none of the preceding. I find many ardent Brexit supporters are often MOPEs, as well as incels, significant numbers on boths sides on the trans debate etc.

    I look at the systematic oppression of the Irish in Ireland by the British and their allies, but also see the ferocity of the backlash.

    I went to a 12th once, in 2011. On the Dublin Road in Belfast, some rival band supporters threw firecrackers at a different band, which led to screaming and panic by some spectators, and the rather amusing sight of a group of big old bandsmen chasing the miscreants, with two female PSNI officers cashing the men chasing the other men. It was amazing how quickly it all kicked off. I also recall a smarmy man with a religious dog collar and a broad smile on his face walking behind a band made up of people who did not fit their uniforms well, and bore the ravages of poverty on their faces, and felt it was a perfect metaphor for the challenges of the PUL community.

    I don't remember any memorable music - though the Lambeg drummers are impressive, as are the guys that throw the things in the air and catch them.

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    1. That'll be the UVF and womble affiliated bands having a go at each other. They hate each other.

      I find the twelfth very boring, I've no interest in the bands and definitely not the OO. Do love the sound of the lambeg but bagpipes are my favourite.

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  6. Barry , you are easily offended open the link.....A 44 second video of kids learning English and Irish...Looks like somewhere in south east Asia....

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