Safe House

by Richie Keane

Pistols in petticoats
Messages by courier
Rifle by the door

Network of spies
Cumann na mBan badges
Secret passage underfloor

Outwitting the Black and Tans
Thugs from the Crown
Safe houses by the score

Spyhole surveillance
Undercover for the Castle
Loyal to the core

Revolution and rebellion
Harp flag we will fly
Freedom and liberty we will roar.

Reproduced with kind permission of the author. Richie Keane is a member of the Fatima Poetry Vigilantes. This poem was composed in a Poetry as Commemoration workshop led by Catherine Ann Cullen in July 2022.

Pension application form of Annie Coyne of Aughagower, Westport, Co. Mayo
Date: 30th May 1951
Collection: Military Service Pensions Collection
Ref: MSP34REF51978 Military Archives

Themes

Black & Tans , Civil War , Cumann na mBan , English Language , Mayo , War of Independence , Women , Working Class , Workshop Poem