In memory of Cathal Brugha and Harry Boland...

by Unknown

In memory of Cathal Brugha and Harry Boland and their many brave comrades who have fallen in defence of the Irish Republic

Not for these, O Eire, 

Not for these, or thee, 

Pipers, trumpeters, blazing loud,

The throbbing drums and colours flying,

And the long-drawn muffled roar of the crowd.

The voice of the human sea:

Theirs it is to inherit

Fame of a finer grace, 

In the self-renewing spirit

And the untameable heart

Ever defeated, yet undefeated,

Of thy remembering race:

For their names are treasured apart,

And their memories green and sweet,

On every hillside and every mart,

In every cabin, in every street,

Of a land, where to fail is more than to triumph,

And victory less than defeat.

This commemorative ballad is found among a collection accumulated by Arthur Warren Samuels, Solicitor General for Ireland 1917-1918, and Attorney General, 1918-1919. Presented to the Library of Trinity College Dublin in the 1960’s. TCD Library. OLS Samuels box 5 no.72. Click link to view artefact via TCD Digital Collections.

Cover image:

A group of men and women walking, including Ernest Blythe and Harry Boland.  UCD Archives. Desmond FitzGerald Photographs. P80/PH/169