Legends and Hero’s

Disc 1

1 This is the Day Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

2 The Patriot Game D Behan

3 The Song of Partition Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

4 Children of Fear Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

5 Sunday Bloody Sunday John Lennon

6 Plastic Bullets Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

7 The Men Behind The Wire Mc Guigan (Walton’s Music)

8 The Lough Sheelin Eviction Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

9 Go Home British Soldiers T. Skelly (Skin Music)

10 Danny Boy (The Derry Air) B. Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

11 Star of the County Down B. Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

12 In Belfast Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

13 Up the Border B. Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

14 The Green Glens of Antrim B. Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

15 The Old Orange Flute B. Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

16 The Old Brigade Dance Medley

song 1 & 2 “The Old Brigade”, “On the one road” ‘ (Walton’s Music),

3 The Broad Black Brimmer” B. Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music),

song 4. “Celtic Symphony” (Skin Music)

Disc 2

17 Lament for the lost Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

18 We Shall Overcome B. Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

19 You’ll Never Beat The Irish Part III Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

20 Tyrone Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

21 Must Ireland Divided Be Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

22 Song Of Liberty Brian Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

23 The Orange and the Green Murphy

24 Long Kesh Hogarty

25 The Sash Me Father Wore Brian Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

26 Fermanagh Love Song Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

27 Hills of Glenswilly Brian Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

28 Joe Mc Donnell Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

29 County of Armagh (Walton’s Music)

30 Guildford Four Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

31 Billy Reid Brian Lyons (Skin Music)

32 Up The Rebels Dance Medley

Teddy Bears Head/Helicopter Song Song 1 & 3 Brian Warfield (Skin Music)

Sean South A Nation Once Again, Song 2 & 4 B. Warfield/ N. Nagle/ T Byrne (Skin Music)

Recorded at Beechpark Studios, Rathcoole, Co Dublin. Engineered, mixed & mastered: Daire Winston

Assistant Engineer: Peter Gray. Produced: Brian Warfield

Backing singers: Modern gospel ensemble, Siobhá n Warfield, The WolfeTones.

Vocals & Guitars: Tommy Byrne

Vocals and Whistle: Noel Nagle

Vocals & Banjo: Brian Warfield

Bass: James Blenerhassett, John Kearns, Tommy Cullen

Fiddle: Adrian Hart, Má ire Ní Bhreathnach

Accordion: Ronnie Kennedy

Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards: Kiev Connolly

Remember if you don’t see Brian Warfield Tommy Byrne and Noel Nagle you don’t see The WolfeTones

The WolfeTones, you might say are the last of the great Irish Ballad Groups. The band originated in Dublin during the sixties when Brian Warfield and his friend Noel Nagle found a common interest in Irish Music. Noel’s father was already involved in music and had formed the New Eire Girl’s Pipe and Drum band. Brian’s father and mother both played the piano and could do a good turn at a party. Humble origins and a genuine interest in Irish music was to lead to the formation of one of the most important bands in the country - The WolfeTones. A little later in 1964, they were joined by Tommy Byrne and they have been together ever since.

At the beginning, the band’s repertoire consisted of all kinds of folk songs; American, English, Scottish, Irish, emigration, work songs, industrial and sea shanties. “I loved the folk songs” said Brian ‘because they opened a window into the lives, situation and the condition of the people of past generations and told their story. I had a great love of history. The one thing I loved about the ballad songs of Ireland is that they told the history of our country from a different perspective than the one we were taught at school, they told great human interest stories that brought historical events to life“.

The WolfeTones’ brand of music became very popular, both in Ireland and England and soon they were making quite a name for themselves. So much so, that in 1964, a record contract was signed, with a debut release “The Foggy Dew” from the international Fontana label. As the popularity of the Tones grew, the sixties began to erupt with its’ own brew of civil rights issues, the Vietnam War and peace protests. Side by side with this change in perceptions, civil unrest and a growing tide for freedom and equality, was the growth of the troubles in Ireland. The Nationalist population in the North were not willing to except the status quo they’d been treated as second class citizens since the partition of the country. They were unwilling to except blatant religious discrimination for much longer so the spirit of the sixties erupted in Ireland as the people sought change.

“ It’s like the story of our lives” said Tommy. “We were there at the civil right’s marches and played at events where civil right speeches were made. It was a real eye opener for us, we had not heard about the discrimination in the North. Unless you went up there, the South really didn’t know or care what was happening. We got to know many courageous people who were willing to take a stand for what they believed in and to make Ireland a better place for all to live in“.

“I remember playing the Ulster hall after one of Ian Paisley’s meetings, My God did he incite trouble!” said Noel, “not to the same crowd!” he added. “He finished in the afternoon and then we played that night!“.

“We were very proud to have supported the people of the six counties in their hard and difficult struggle for equal rights, peace and Justice over the years“ said Brian. “From the beginning, the violence was targeted towards the minority nationalist population, coming from many extremist groups like the UVF, the Unionists mobs, the orange marchers, the RUC and B-Specials. And of course, the rhetorical violence of Paisley. We have played concerts for civil rights, peace, anti-internment, prisoner’s dependence, “dirty protests” or to highlight the hunger strikes and the dangers of plastic bullets. We have been Knocked, slagged, threatened, Harassed and have had many narrow escapes over the years. We have sympathised with people who have been injured or killed in bombings and shootings and felt their plight needed to be highlighted in songs. We never stopped singing our songs, even when it became considered supposedly politically incorrect or unpopular with some members of the media. We never jumped on and off bandwagons as others did we were always consistent. Our music and songs have been banned and blacklisted and some have even tried to write us out of history and go to great lengths to avoid even mentioning our name. Over the forty years we have played every county in Ireland and every part of the six counties. Despite the Knocking we are still one of the most poplar bands in the country and the biggest record sellers. We have heard and seen it all, so you might say, there is a story to be told. We present to you, the songs of our times, the songs of our peoples. This album celebrates songs of the nine counties of Ulster, filled with our hope and optimism for peace - at last.

We present to you the story of the troubles…

1 This is the Day

For over eight centuries, the Irish people have dreamt of peace in their own land. They have suffered wars, invasions, conquest, re-conquest, land confiscations, famines, hunger, impoverishment, religious persecution and discrimination right up to the present day. It is a great day for Ireland, that we can boast a peace agreement that will give Irish people the hope of a happy future with peace. The Good Friday agreement of 1998 was negotiated by all the parties in Ireland in a search for peace in our land. Here is the story of the countdown to peace:-

March 1993, Secret talks take place between John Hume and Gerry Adams. Hume states ‘that Irish people have the right to self determination‘. In September, Hume and Adams reach agreement and present it to the Irish Government of Albert Reynolds. November: secret meetings between Sinn Fein and the British. The Downing St. declaration is signed by Reynolds and Major. Jan 1994: President Clinton grants visa to Adams to visit America, Section 31 is lifted. Aug 1994: IRA declare complete cessation to military operations. In September: Hume, Adams and Reynolds shake hands outside Government buildings in Dublin. Soldiers begin patrolling streets without helmets Reynolds resigns as Taoiseach and Bertie Ahern is elected leader. December: first official meeting between the British and Sinn Fein. Dec: Decommissioning becomes a major point. February 1995: framework for the future released and the UUP reject it. Jim Molyneaux elected leader. July: violent confrontation at Garvaghy Rd in Portadown. The orange march is forced through. In August: Molyneaux resigns and Trimble becomes leader. November: President Clinton visits Ireland and shakes hands with Adams. Jan1996, Mitchell recommends decommissioning in parallel with talks. Feb: IRA ceasefire ends with bomb at Canary Wharf. June: talks begin, chaired by Mitchell without Sinn Fein. July: Garvaghy Rd again is the focal point. May 1997: Tony Blair wins election, Mo Mowlan becomes Sec of State, Adams wins west Belfast, Mc Guinness wins Mid Ulster. June: Ahern wins election with PD’s. July: IRA ceasefire again Sinn Fein’s independent commission on decommissioning lead by General De Chastelain. Sept: UUP Joins talks. Heads of agreement paper issued by both governments in Jan 1998; IRA rejects it. April: Good Friday agreement Signed. In May, it was endorsed by referenda both in the North and South. Overwhelmingly in the South by 94% and by 71 % in the North. I wrote this song for peace and dedicate it to the children of Ireland they are our hope for the future lets make sure they don‘t have to suffer the same troubles.

2 The Patriot Game

On 12 Dec 1956, ‘Operation Harvest’, the campaign of the fifties began. There were 150 men involved in its’ first mission. They blew up and attacked ten targets in the six counties; a BBC mast transmitter, a barracks, a territorial army building, a magistrates court. A little later between 31^st Dec and the 1^st Jan, a group of men opened fire on a police barracks in Brookeborough County Fermanagh. Two of the attackers were badly wounded; Feargal O’Hanlon, a nineteen year old youth from Monaghan and Sean South, a twenty seven year old Limerick man. The raid was a failure; the bomb failed to detonate and the RUC commenced firing at the group, wounding at least four. The raiding party escaped with their wounded, but later had to abandon two of their comrades in a byre, where they were located by the RUC. The other members of the party believe that they were still alive when found, but shot in that shed by their pursuers.

Internment was introduced immediately. 100 Men were swooped up. This peaked to 187 in 1958. The Dublin government also introduced internment, lasting some 20 months, where 206 were retained, the last man was released 11 march 1959. On Feb 1962, the IRA called off its’ campaign. In all, there were 18 RUC killed, 19 injured, 11 B specials, 2 wounded. The IRA had 2 killed and 19 wounded. There were 5,000 regular forces, 5,000 Territorials, 3,000 RUC, 12,000 B Specials and 1,500 specially trained commandos. The IRA took a political tack over the next years and tried to change things through political means and discarded there arms.

3 Partition

In 1922, Ireland was partitioned against the wishes of the majority of the people in the Country. The border cut out six counties out of thirty two and created an artificial state. Two of the counties, Fermanagh and Tyrone had nationalist majorities. The border is 290 miles long and the most unnatural border in the world, it weaves its way through towns, fields, mountain’s and even divides houses. There are nine counties in the province of Ulster, but it was impossible for the Unionists to take all nine because it would have contained a Catholic majority. Four counties was too small, according to Carson so they decided on six. “I’m an Orangeman first and a politician and MP afterwards…All I boast is a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant state James Craig“ P.M. On June 22, King George opened the Parliament in the six counties. Loyalists backed by police and army, attacked Catholic areas, leaving many dead and injured. During the first year and a half, 423 people were killed, 1,766 wounded, 8,750 driven from their jobs and 2,300 were made homeless. The Catholic community were abandoned by the Free State and left at the mercy of a hostile Unionist Government, who discarded proportional representation. Whose police force the Ruc ,B specials were just the military wing of unionism. Who refused to attend the boundary commission and introduced the draconian Special Powers Act which was used to oppress the Nationalist people ever since. This song is a satire based on the tragedy of Partition.

4 Children of fear

Students from Queens University marched to William Craig’s house in Belfast, in protest of his handling of the Derry march Oct ‘68. He publicly called the students “silly bloody fools“. They then planned a March to City Hall and Paisley warned them that if it went ahead, he would hold a counter demonstration. Paisleys threat of counter marches was used to ban CRA marches while Orange marches went unmolested

Police kept the groups apart and the students held a sit down at City centre. The PD people’s democracy was founded in Queens by the students and lecturers after this incident. Michael Farrell, a lecturer and Bernadette Devlin, a 19 year old student were swept into the political limelight. She met with Paisley at his home and made the point that the Protestant and Catholic working class had more in common and if they worked together, they could achieve much. She also pointed out the many injustices against Catholics. He agreed there were injustices and that there good ground for Catholic resentment, but said he’d rather be British than just. On Jan 1^ST 1969, The People’s Democracy decided on a march between Belfast and Derry. On the 3^rd. Jan, Paisley met new Home Affairs Minister, Capt Long and told him to stop the march before it reached Derry or there would be trouble. He held a meeting in the Guild Hall, Derry, the night before it was due to arrive. A crowd of people gathered outside protesting Paisley’s meeting and a window was broken .The Paisleyites broke the banisters, legs of chairs and tables to make clubs to fight the protestors. Major Bunting also addressed the meeting and urged all to get to Burntollet the following morning, to stop the march. Nothing much happened that night; Major Buntings car was set on fire, but they made their way to Burntollet. Heaps of stones taken by local men from a quarry nearby, were placed at 12 foot intervals on the hill, overlooking the bridge, the night before, to await the march.

At about 11 o’clock on the 4^th Jan, 500 marchers arrived at Burntollet bridge near Derry lead by 80 RUC. “They were ambushed and met by a curtain of stones, boulders and bottles, raining down on them” said Bernadette Devlin describing the ambush, ”they burst at us through hedges. Some marchers fled to the river, but were beaten senseless. They held iron bars, clubs and cudgels, some with nails embedded into them for better effect“. She said that “the RUC had watched the gathering of the attackers and had done nothing to prevent it happening.” The attackers had chatted and joked with the B Specials as they assembled before the march arrived.

5 Bloody Sunday

The NICRA announced they were to hold a protest march in Derry against internment on the 30^th. Jan 1972. The Faulkner Government banned all parades on the 18^th. Jan, just 12 days before it took place. The civil rights organisers were determined that it would go ahead but so was Faulkner equally determined to stop the illegal march He was ready to show that he would take no nonsense from the CRA. Over ten thousand people attended, protesting against Unionist misrule and the discriminatory laws, mainly against the Catholic minority in the six counties. The unsuspecting marches walked peacefully into a massacre, when members of the 1^st. Battalion of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on the unarmed civilians, killing 13 and injuring hundreds, one dying later, making a total of 14 dead. On the following Wednesday, a national day of mourning was held, where an angry crowd of over 20,000 converged on the British Embassy in Merrion Square, Dublin and set it ablaze. The British set up an inquiry into the shootings, headed by Lord Widgery, the Lord Chief Justice, who of course whitewashed the whole affair. The Irish government apologised to the British for the burning of its’ Embassy, but the irony is the British government never apologised to the people of Derry for the shooting of its’ citizens.

This song was written by John Lennon the working class hero it has become part of the folklore of Ireland and I know he would be proud of that. Three of the beetles had Irish connections John and Paul wrote songs in support of Irelands fight for Justice both like the Tones had their songs banned.

6 Plastic/Rubber Bullets

The rubber bullet is a harmless sounding riot control weapon, which was used against the civilian population from Feb 1970 to 1975. It was then replaced by a plastic round, which was used until 1998. There were 124,829 fired at civilians over the period, 55,688 were rubber, killing 17 people (of which 8 were children, injuring Blinding and scarring thousands of people permanently. This song tells the story of one of the victims; Sean Downes. On the 2^nd Aug 1984, an anti-internment protest march took place and ended outside the Sinn Fein office, in Andersontown Belfast. Gerry Adams and John Galvin of Noraid in the USA, were the speakers on the stand. Galvin had been denied entry to the UK. When he was introduced to make his speech, the police tried to arrest him. The road was blocked on each end by armoured cars. They started the engines and the RUC proceeded to clear the way for their progress. Men, women and children were in attendance and many were sitting down. The RUC started to shoot plastic bullets into the crowd. Sean Downes, aged 22, was there with his wife and one year old daughter. He was shot in the heart at close range by a constable and died on the roadside. Twenty people were injured by bullets or run down by armoured cars on that day.

7 The Men behind the wire

Brian Faulkner replaced Chichester Clarke, on the 20 March 1971, as head of the Unionist government. He believed that internment would bring an end to the nationalist unrest, civil right activists and defeat the IRA. He hoped to silence them, as it did during the 56‘-62’ campaign. In the early hours of the morning of the 9^th. August 1971, ‘Operation Demetius’ was set in motion. 342 men, mainly catholic were taken from their homes under the Special Powers Act and interned without trial or crime. They were hauled away at gunpoint to interrogation centres, where torture and brutality was used to gain information or confessions. Those from the Belfast region were first taken to Girdwood barracks where they were beaten and tortured. Others had their heads covered with hoods, were placed in helicopters, with their backs to the door, the engines were revved up and they were thrown out, believing they were still in the air. Others were denied sleep and food for over 48 hours or were subjected to continuous noise. They were held in Long Kesh, at Magilligan, on the shores of Lough Foyle Derry, the prison ship the Maidstone, where 150 men were held and Crumlin road, a civilian prison. As the men were being released they told stories of torture and brutality in the ‘concentration camps.’

8 The Lough Sheelin Eviction

A graphic story of an eviction from county Cavan. Evictions were common in every county and it was generally a death sentence to most. Neighbours were prohibited to help and if they did they too would be evicted. In Ulster, many were evicted because of their religion.

9 Go on home British Soldiers

Between August 12^th to the 14^th 1969, a serious riot took place, after the annual Apprentice boys march in the city. The ‘battle of the Bogside’ commenced when local Nationalist youths and loyalist marchers began throwing stones at each other. The RUC and ‘B’ Specials tried to drive the Nationalist youths back to the Bogside. When the RUC pursued them, they were showered with petrol bombs from Rossville Street flats. The fighting continued throughout the night and into the next day. The residents had erected barricades to protect their homes from the wrath of the RUC as they did on previous occasions. The RUC failed to gain access to the Bogside and began to use CS gas on the citizens. The citizens retaliated with petrol bombs and stones, the RUC retreated from the bloody fight and ‘Free Derry’ was declared. On the 14^th British Troops were called into Derry. The CRA called for help from other areas, to take the heat off Derry. Then, similar rioting spread to West and North Belfast. The RUC used armoured cars, mounted with machine guns, shot them into Divis St flats, killing a young boy of 9 in his bed and a soldier, home on leave. Police batons charged the catholic area, a Protestant mob followed behind and the RUC/B-Specials proceeded to burn homes . On the 15th August, the British troops were called in, the people, still under attack from the RUC/‘B’ Specials saw them as saviours. They couldn’t have been more wrong; 10 people were shot dead, 154 wounded by gunfire, 745 injured and 1,800 families were driven from their homes, of which 1,500 were Catholic. Bombay St was burnt while the RUC watched on passively. The IRA were branded as cowards for not protecting the Catholics. ‘I Ran Away’, the local graffiti proclaimed.

10 Danny Boy

The Derry air has been proclaimed as one of the most perfect melodies ever written in the world. We are delighted to give you our version of this wonderful song. The words, of course, only add to the poignancy and emotion of this song. It has been recorded many times but this recording is dedicated to the people of Derry.

11 Star of the County Down

Many songs have come from the great county Down. The ‘Mountains of Mourne’ is probably the best known. This song has been a favourite of mine, since I first heard my grandfather sing it, when I was just a boy. He was an excellent tenor and it was his one of his party pieces.

12 Belfast

The biggest population centre of the six counties is a deeply divided City carved into separate areas based on religion. It was home to one of the biggest shipyards in the World Harland and Wolf where the Titanic and her sister ship Britannia were built. Here too discrimination was rife out of 10,000 workers only 400 were Catholic. There will be no peace until the people of Belfast learn to live together side by side. This song explains much of the tragedy that is Belfast. The burning Church ….

13 Up The Border

Basil Brooke Lord Brookeborough was Prime minister of the northern state from 1943 until 1963. When asked about protestant discrimination against Catholics in Ulster, he said ‘well that might be, I don’t know about that one, I don’t know the answer to that. I believe it comes somewhere near the truth. But I never came across it“. These vague answers came from a man who was chairman of Fermanagh County Council for 15 years until he became P.M. Then his son took over. In 1961, Fermanagh had a Catholic majority and the county council was the only local authority in the county; it returned 35 unionists and 17 non-unionists to the council . It employed 370 people, of which 332 were protestant. Discrimination was in every field; only 7 out of 75 school bus drivers were non protestant. Of the 1,589 houses built by the county council between WW II and 1966, 1,021 went to protestants; housing policies were used to strengthen electoral advantage. .

This practice of discrimination against Catholics was instigated by the policies of unionists and the Orange order, since the beginnings of the state. In 1925, the then Minister for agriculture was charged with employing Catholics and defended himself be stating out of 109 officials, 4 are Roman catholic. Then in 1933, the Minister for labour was asked about Catholics employed as porters at Stormont; the rumour was that there were 28 Catholics and only 3 protestants in those positions. On further inquiry, he was glad to report that 30 were Protestant and only 1 catholic and he was temporary. Hard-line Orangeman Brian Faulkner at an orange gathering on July 17^th 1954 stated “There is no reason why Orangemen individually or collectively should not interest himself in the economic welfare of the community. We should find employment for our Brethren.”

What was Gerrymandering and how did it work? Well. the technique is to draw boundaries in such a way that you spread your own support as thinly as you dare, to give you as many seats as possible. Whilst cramming your opponents support into as few seats as possible. . This practice was widespread across the six counties. In 1966, Dungannon Co Tyrone, had a pop. of 7,500, although 53% of it was Catholic, it returned 14 protestants and only 7 Catholics to the council. Kilkeel, Co Down with a pop of 3,000 (60% Catholic), it returned a unionist council from 1937. If that wasn’t enough, limited companies, mainly Protestant, were given the privilege of nominating 6 votes, while sub-tenants, lodgers and children over 18 (who were living at home), were disenfranchised from local elections.

14 The Green Glens of Antrim

Antrim is one of the most beautiful counties of Ireland with its’ rolling hills and valleys. The Giants Causeway and its’ wonderful coastline has always been a great attraction. There has been a great tradition of strong community relations in the Green Glens and long may they enjoy peace and prosperity. Tommy Byrne as a teenager, won a prize at a feis singing this very song.

15 The Auld Orange Flute

No member of the Orange order could marry a catholic, be kind to, or help a catholic, nor could a catholic be accepted into the order. ‘To Hell or to Connaught’ was the cry of Oliver Cromwell in his campaign of 1653, when he drove the Catholics from their lands. The Shannon was pronounced the border and all men, women and children of the Irish nation were to transplant themselves there by May 1^st, 1654. This was the policy of the early Orange Society. They placed notices on Catholic homes such as ‘Go to Hell, Connaught wont take you,‘ signed Will Thresham and John Trustout. In the 1790’s, Henry Grattan spoke about the orange campaign, stating this was an attempt to exterminate Catholics in the County of Armagh. 1,400 families (or 7,000 people) were driven from their homes during this campaign. The Orangemen mainly consisted of the lower orders of the established church, whilst the Presbyterians had enjoyed friendly feelings towards their catholic neighbours. The Presbyterians were one of the first to have republican beliefs and sympathies and as such, they helped the evicted Catholics to resettle in Paisley and Glasgow in Scotland. By 1810 they had helped resettle over 20,000 in these areas.

16 The Old Brigade Dance Medley

It’s a bit of fun. It’s something different! A few verses of our songs made into a dance track and something to rave the night away and enjoy the craic! The songs are all great favourites; The Boys of the old Brigade, On the One Road, the Broad Black Brimmer and Celtic Symphony.

17 The Lament for the Dublin Bombings Victims

“We’ve been treated like lepers“ said Frank Massey ”instead of being innocent victims, we’ve been treated as though we are guilty. Why?”

On Friday 17^th. May 1974 at 5.30 PM, the biggest single atrocity of the so-called ‘troubles’ took place in Dublin and Monaghan. Three bombs exploded without warning in Dublin’s Parnell St, Talbot St and South Leinster St, killing 26 innocent people. The fourth one exploded at 6.58pm in Monaghan, outside Greacens Pub, killing a further 7 people. 240 required hospital treatment and were maimed or injured.

The surviving relatives and friends, deeply scarred by the events, have being calling for justice and answers ever since, but their call has mainly been ignored by the British and Irish governments. There is widespread belief, that it was the work of Loyalist paramilitaries, from the Mid Ulster region in collusion with British Forces. There was crossover of personnel between B Specials, the UVF and later the UDA/UDR and intelligent units of RUC, British army and SAS. Undercover agents and secret units have admitted they ran or had protestant extremists under their control. They cooperated in targeting civilians by assassinations and ‘no warning’ bombings. Like Dec 28th 1972, when the UVF detonated 3 ‘no warning bombs, one in Belturbet, Co Cavan, killing two teenagers, Clones, Co Monaghan and Pettigo, Co Donegal. They were involved again with the bombings in Dublin in 1972 and three Dec 1^st..for instance

a bomb exploded, killing two civilians and injuring 140. It proved very effective because the Dail was debating The Offences against the State (Amendment) Act, the Bill to be passed the very next day . They have acknowledged that they used protestant paramilitaries in their battle with the IRA, or as a tool to change political events and opinions during the troubles.

The first bomb of the troubles in 1964, was blamed on the IRA, yet it was in fact, the work of extreme protestant groups backed by Paisley to bring down O’Neill, saying he was ‘soft on IRA violence‘. The 1974 bombing took place against the background of the UWC strike. It was instigated by the Vanguard party of Craig and Paisley, who were campaigning to bring down the new power-sharing agreement which had been brokered by The Conservative government of Edward Heath, Liam Cosgrove, Brian Faulkner and Gerry Fitt . Once again, Paisley was to the forefront in bringing an end to hopes of peace and justice, spewing out hate and incitement, marching with 60,000 masked men of protestant militia and extremists to bring an end to Sunningdale. The death of Sunningdale occurred on the 28 May 1974 just 11 days after the Dublin Monaghan Bombings. The UWC press officer Sammy Smith UDA said “I am very happy with the bombings in Dublin. There is a war with the free state and now we are laughing at them.”

Why didn’t the army move to break the UWC strike? Like it did in 72’ with ‘Operation Motorman‘, when 12,000 troops, armoured cars, centurion tanks and bulldozers were used to dismantle barricades in Derry and Belfast, that nationalist had erected for their own protection. It is sad to say, had the labour Government of Wilson showed the resolve to keep it on track, many lives would have been saved

Unless a society exposes itself to the truth, it can harbour no possibility of reconciliation, reunification and trust. For a peace settlement to be solid and durable, it must be based on truth. We remember the victims of the bombings over the past forty years; Enniskillen, Warrington, Omagh, Bloody Friday, the Le Mons House Restaurant near Belfast on Friday 17^th. Feb 1978. In all these cases, the victims families know who carried out these bombings, except the families of Dublin and Monaghan, who are still awaiting answers.

18 We shall Overcome

Martain Luther King “We merely bring to the surface the hidden tensions that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with“. The Civil Rights movement in 1963 arose out of social and political abuse in the six counties, based on the Black movement in the US. It was called the NICRA . Mrs Patricia McCluskey, wife of a local doctor was incensed by the Protestant dominated council, when they refused to move Catholics from overcrowded conditions to some empty post war houses, (which were far superior to their existing homes). She organised the Homeless Citizens League, who held protests ‘sit-ins’ and ‘squat-ins’ to highlight the struggle for housing equality. She was successful in getting tenancies for her group. With her husband Con, they founded a campaign to collect information on cases of injustice in Northern Ireland. As a result of these local efforts, The CRA was founded and a formal public meeting agreed its’ objectives: 1) one person, one vote, in the local elections. 2) The removal of all gerrymandered boundaries. 3) Laws against discrimination at local government level and independent bodies to deal with complaints. 4) Allocation of public housing on a points system 5) Repeal of the Special Powers Act 6) Disbanding of the ‘B’ Specials.

It was a mistake of the Protestant rulers to believe that the Civil rights movement was a attack on the State. Ulster was secure; the IRA had gone away and would not have reformed. The growing Catholic middle class were unlikely to suffer discrimination or inferiority like their forefathers, but the Ulster government, not equipped to deal with peaceful protest, only found such measures as internment or force or the threat of force.

Against such an abusive political backdrop and protestant violence, the middle class Catholics formed a peaceful civil rights association. In June 1968, a squatting Catholic family were evicted from their home and replaced by an 19 year old unmarried mother, who worked as a secretary to a Unionist politician. Austen Curry suggested a CRA march to highlight this injustice. Some 4000 people turned up, including some students from Queens University. The authorities, threatened the demonstrators with violence, if the march entered Market Square, Dungannon. The march continued between Coalisland and Dungannon and ended at the police barricades. After peaceful demonstration and speeches, the meeting ended with one of the speakers, leading the crowd in singing ‘We Shall Overcome“.

A second protest was held in Derry on the 6^th October 1968, that transpired to turn the Civil Rights Ass. into a mass movement. Some 2000 people turned up for the protest. Craig, the Minister for home affairs had the police ready for violence, in order to make an example of the marchers. It was said, that a marcher threw a placard at the police, who were attempting to stop the march. The police broke ranks and began to use their batons indiscriminately, injuring 77 civilians, most with lacerations of the head. Gerry Fitt and McAteer, both nationalist representatives were also attacked. 11 police were injured. This resulted in widespread political attention, as the non-provoked police violence was seen across the world on TV. Finally the injustices of the six county state came to the forefront.

19 Never Beat the Irish Part III

Part I of the story started with the First Norman invasion in 1167 and ended with the Act of Union. Part II told the story from the reign of Victoria through the Famine, Fenians, Parnell, Land War and finished at the War of Independence This is the Part III, thus completing the trilogy. It tells the story from the Treaty and partition, right up to the present time. This is the history of Ireland in song.

20 Must Ireland divided be

Apart from the campaign between 1956 and 1962, the Catholic communities during the sixties were predominantly presided over by peaceful leaders. It was thought and hoped by all, that reforms and civil rights would be implemented. People believed that leaders like O’Neill and Lemass would solve the problems in the sixties. Antrim man Capt. Terence O‘ Neill was publicly denounced for the supposed ‘crime’ of meeting the Irish Taoiseach, Sean Lemass. The visit was secretly arranged as O’Neill knew that they needed to increase contact with the South to normalise relationships. Ian Paisley made a political challenge on O’Neill charging him with ‘entertaining Papists’ and ‘Fenian O’Neill must go’ became his slogan. Paisley came to fame as a extreme right wing protestant fanatic. He bombasted Protestant and Presbyterian ministers who had ecumenical inclinations, describing them as ‘blaspheming, cursing, spitting, Roman, scum“. He threw a bible at the face of a visiting ecumenical Methodist minister Rev. Donald Soper. He incited the protestant working class with words of hatred and bigotry, invoking fear within them, during the rise of the civil rights movement. He gave them what they wanted to hear which was that ‘Catholics must be kept down‘. In 1964, he played a prominent role in stirring up agitation over the Tricolour incident. In June 1966, he held a demonstration in Belfast against the General assembly of the Presbyterian Church denouncing its’ ‘Rome-ward trend‘. He took his march through Cromac Square, a Catholic enclave and the scene of bitter sectarian fighting in 1935. A riot followed, but no serious injuries were reported. But the damage was done, as hatred was awakened once again. On June 27^th, the UVF shot dead an 18 year old Catholic barman and wounded his two friends in Mulvern St. Belfast. O’Neill banned the UVF, calling them ‘a sordid conspiracy of criminals against a unprotected people‘. All three UVF men were also members of the Orange Lodge, 1692, Prince Albert LOL. On the 12^th, the Orange parade stopped outside their prison to pay homage to the murderers. On the 30^th March, bombs exploded in east Belfast blowing up an electrical sub station. On the 20^th April, an electrical pylon and an outlet for the water supply was bombed. Headlines in the papers read ’IRA BEHIND THE BLASTS’ and ‘RUC SAID IRA PLAN.. TERRORIST.. BLUEPRINT‘. It was later proved, it was in fact, the UVF backed by Paisley, who carried out the bombings to bring down O’Neill. On the 28 April 1969, Capt. Terence O Neill resigned and was replaced by his cousin Major James Chichester Clarke. His reason for this was he said it was ‘impossible’ for him to bring in reforms, and ‘it might be easier for somebody else‘. Samuel Stevenson, Chief of staff of the UVF was put on trial for the bombings. Towards the end of the trial, a bomb exploded outside the jury room.

‘Don’t listen to bigots, let love and not hate, and strive towards unity“.

21 Tyrone

We met Cardinal O’Fiach on many occasions. He was a wonderful man. We sang with him in the Mansion House, at an old folks party; he sang ‘The County of Armagh’ with us on stage with the protestant archbishop of Dublin. We also had the pleasure of his company, in a pub in Armagh, when we played a concert there. This song was inspired by him in a dream I had; He was singing this song at the top of his voice, standing on a chair, the crowd around him singing along . This song is dedicated to the memory of this great man..

22 The Song of Liberty

The Good Friday agreement of 1998 was described by Sheamus Mallon deputy leader of the SDLP as ‘Sunningdale for slow learners.’ Stand beside me for peace and for liberty.

23 Long Kesh

By March 1972, over 900 detainees were held in Long Kesh, a converted army barracks/airfield close to Belfast. Long Kesh had all the hallmarks of a POW camp; a collection of dismal Nissen huts, POW type watchtowers, surrounded by barbed wire fencing. They later changed the name to ‘The Maze‘. ‘H’ Block compounds were built to house internees; they were so named because of their structural shape, each had approx 200 cells set within four wings. By the end of 1971, internment was in full swing, some 2,357 citizens had been detained in the camps without crime or trial.

24 The Orange and the Green

The Orange order was formed out of ‘the Peep of the Day boys’ in Sept 1795 They took their name from the fact that they raided Catholic homes, for arms in the early hours of the morning. They were a sectarian faction and used aggressive tactics to intimidate Catholics from their homes and places of employment; posting threatening notices, wrecking and burning homes and property, terrorising people who gave employment or gave tenancies to Catholics. The defenders were a group who grew out of the necessity of the Catholic community for self protection. The ‘Battle of the Diamond’ was provoked by the ‘Peep O the Day men’ and their supporters around Portadown, Co. Armagh. There was a lull between the groups for some time. However, it was rekindled by Government secret agents, when house burning and wrecking restarted in 1794 and continued up to and after the ‘Battle of the Diamond‘. On the 1^st. July 1795 A Portadown Clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Monsel fanned the flames and many of his congregation made an assault on Catholic homes; ransacking and burning, culminating in the killing of two peasants cutting turf in the bog. The Defenders were fed up with the ‘night’ raids calling them ‘cowardly acts’ and asked that ‘they fight it out in a field‘. Several thousand Defenders gathered, mainly armed with swords and pitchforks. The ‘Peep boys,’ though less in numbers, had all the guns and were heavily armed. It was no match. The first fight did not last long, but left several Defenders dead or wounded in the field. A local priest and protestant gentleman intervened and a truce was called . All parties left the area but some Peepmen stayed around the Diamond and were still there when some Defenders arrived from Keady. On the 21^ST. Sept 1795. They did not know about the truce and after some intimidation a window was broken at a house of Mr Winter . The main body of Peepmen, hearing of this incident, returned and a fight took place, leaving hundreds of Defenders injured and 48 dead. This was ‘the Battle of the Diamond’ or some people called it the ‘Massacre of the Diamond‘. The first Orange lodge was formed in the house of a Mr. Sloan after this incident and the ‘Peep of the day boys’ from that day became known as ‘Orangemen‘. The name changed, but the house-wrecking and intimidation continued to rise, in the lead up to the 1798 rising.

25 Fermanagh Love Song

Fermanagh is a wonderful mystical place with its’ beautiful mountains and lakes. I felt that like Tyrone, the county needed a new song! We took a different approach to this one. I’ve tried to capture the beauty of the county.. We do hope you like it and hope you can adopt it as your own!

26 The Sash Me Father Wore

Ulster was the last of the provinces of Ireland, to be subdued by the newly protestant English crown. It was planted by James I with protestant settlers, mainly Presbyterians from the Scottish borders. James II army besieged Derry and fought the ‘Battle of the Boyne‘, where he was defeated by William of Orange and ran away. The fact that William was backed by the Pope, has largely been forgotten as marchers blast his name every 12^th July in annual celebration of his battle! James fled from the Boyne, but it wasn’t a great victory, because the Irish fought on, until they signed the treaty at Limerick - albeit as an undefeated Army Oct, 3 1691. The treaty was broken. the Penal laws were enacted mainly against Catholics and to a lesser degree against the Presbyterians. Throughout the following centuries the Irish were brutally treated and made second class citizens in their own land, by a protestant establishment. For a brief period the Presbyterians tried to make an alliance with their catholic neighbours in the United Irish movement. A wedge was driven between the Presbyterian, protestant reformers and Catholics by a fearful English Government of Pitt Camden and Castlerea in the 1790’s and after that further alienation continued by the work of the sectarian Orange Societies. The Orange Yeomanry raged a vicious campaign against catholic and Presbyterian during and after the rising of 98. They were the only police force until 1814, when the Peelers were introduced and then they only recruited protestants.

28 Joe Mc Donnell

The ‘hunger strike’ commenced on Oct. 1980 as a protest against brutal treatment to the internees and to restore political status to their internment. It ended at Christmas, when the British promised to meet their demands. As soon as the men came off their strike, they reneged on their promise. A second strike commenced in March 1981, it was led by Bobby Sands, who started his strike two weeks before the others, with a view to saving their lives should he be left to die. While he was still in prison, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Fermanagh South Tyrone. But the fact he was now a member of government did nothing to save his life. Many citizens in Ireland and England and indeed internationally signed petitions to appeal for the British government to listen to their demands, to no avail. After 66 days, at 1.17am on the 5^th May, 1981, Bobby Sands, MEP. died. The intransigents of the Thatcher Government did little to save the other prisoners that were on hunger strike; Francis Hughes died on May 12^th, followed by Raymond McCreesh, Patsy O Hara on the 21^st May, Joe Mc Donnell, July 8^th , Martin Hurson on the July 13th, Kevin Lynch Aug 1^st. Kieran Doherty was the next to die on Aug 3^rd, again although he was elected to the Dail in Ireland, it didn’t save his life wither. The fact that the people were supporting their cause did little to urge the British government into action. The last two were Thomas Mc Elwee, Aug 8^th and Michael Divine, Aug 29^th. Most of these men were interned without trial during the swoop of 1971 and all they wanted was to be treated as prisoners with dignity and some level of humanity. For this, they gave they lives.

30 Guildford Four

They were Gerry Conlon, Paul Hill, Patrick Armstrong, Carole Richardson, These four innocent people were the centre of a great miscarriage of justice. All were Irish born, living in England and were charged with the Woolwich Pub bombing, a bar frequented by British soldiers. The Guilford Police obtained a list of friends and relatives and arrested Anne Maguire and many others from the Kilburn area. Guisippe Conlon, Gerry’s father came to help him at the police station and was arrested for conspiracy along with the Maguire’s. Under the duress of police brutality, ‘fabricated confessions’ were extracted, they were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. After many appeals and a lot of campaigning by the Irish in Britain, justice prevailed and they were released in 1989. Unfortunately, Guisippe did not live to see his freedom or his name cleared, as he died in prison in 1979. The Birmingham six accused of the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974, suffered the same fate and were not released until 1991.

31 Billy Reid

Billy Reid was shot dead on the streets of Belfast on the 15 May 1971. He was a member of the 3^rd. Battalion of the Belfast brigade of the IRA.

32 ‘Up The Rebels’ Dance Medley

‘The Teddy Bear’s Head‘, ‘Sean South of Garryowen‘, ‘The Helicopter song’ and ‘A Nation Once Again’(voted the BBC’s most popular song of all time!), all have been great hits for the Tones over the years. The medley consists of a verse and a chorus of each song mixed to a dance beat. It’s meant to be a bit of fun, so watch out!

It is the wish of the Wolfetones that the peace in Ireland will last and that the people of all religions will learn to live together in this great country. We should be proud of our history and proud of our heritage, and proud to sing the songs of the people, the folk ballad, that remembers our history

Thanks for listening.

Brian Warfield