22nd May: Down by the Glenside

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May 19, 2013, 7:51:12 AM5/19/13

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The Clé Club

Wednesday nights

Downstairs in the Stag’s Head

No 1 Dame Court

Dublin 2

Doors open 8.30pm

Admission €5

22nd May: Down by the Glenside

Celebrating the spirit of Peadar Kearney

Fear a tí: Tony McGaley

THE spirit of Peadar Kearney deserves to be celebrated, and not just because he wrote the Irish National Anthem. His commitment to the cause of Irish freedom is reflected in many of his songs, including Down by the Glenside, The Tri-Coloured Ribbon, Down by the Liffey Side and The Row in the Town..

A brother of Katheen Behan and uncle of Brendan and Dominic Behan, Kearney was a member of the Gaelic League and the IRB; among his pupils in Irish night classes was Sean O’Casey. In 1913 he was a co-founder of the Irish Volunteers and took part in the Howth and Kilcoole gun running. In 1916 he fought under Thomas MacDonagh at Jacob’s factory.

In the War of Independence, Kearney was captured on November 25, 1920 and interned first in Collinstown Camp in Dublin and later in Ballykinler Camp. A close associate of Michael Collins, he first took the Free State side in the Civil War but lost faith in the Free State after Collins’s death.

His name endures and his spirit is intrinsically linked with the spirit of Dublin city. Alas, he never received royalties for his contribution to the anthem, adopted by the Free State government.