Ambush At Dooney Rock
When we come at the end of time,
To Peter sitting in state,
He will smile on the three old spirits,– “The Fiddler of Dooney” (W.B. Yeats)
Two men there died, by forces slain
Who were comrades not so long ago
Such is Civil War, at Dooney Rock
Watched by the Morrighan crow… (1)
Adair there lay dead, shot by the men
Led by the man he was jailed trying to save (2)
But the split makes enemies of former comrades
Who now commit each other to the grave.
Paddy Callaghan too of Ballinalee
Of great service and same stock
John Sweeney bled, took two days to die
After the ambush at Dooney Rock.
Frank Cartys men took the armored car
That Mc Eoin had renamed the Ballinalee
Veteran of Egypt she was, in Sligo was to burn
Yet more service was yet to see. (3)
In the hands of fellow Irishmen
Who each other in Civil War fight and kill
Thee nameplate of a locomotive gave her a new name
The Wild Rose of Lough Gill
In London the British sat, satisfied
Irishmen fighting Irishmen
If we had known how little we would have won
Would we have rebelled, if given the choice again?
Sidney Gallagher would take the gun again
Who had been shot in the arm
Sailed neath bishops blessing to fight in Spain (4)
Return without much harm.
Glossary
[1] Morrighan crow –
Irish legendry spectre of a grow which was a manifestation of the Goddesses of the known as “The Morrighan”
[2] Adair was arrested trying to free Frank Carty in Glasgow. Little did either know Cartys unit would kill Adair in the coming years.
[3] The Ballinalee
It was burned in la later engagement while in the serive of the IRA against the FSA, who recaptured it. It was restored and entered service again in WWII.
http://www.sligoheritage.com/history.htm
[3]The Sligo Men who Fought for Franco
http://irelandscw.com/band-Sligo1.htm
The North Longford Flying Column on Crott Mountain, 1 May 1921, following an ambush at Reilly’s house at Fyhora, in which two B&Ts were killed.
Rear L-R: Frank Davis, John (Bun) McDowell, Seamus McKeon (bro. of Gen Sean McKeon), Michael Tracey, Paddy Lynch, Tom Reilly, James (Nap) Farrelly, Frank Gormley, Hugh Hourican.
Front L-R: Kiernan (not a member of the column but ‘on the run’ & staying at Reilly’s house), Pat Cooke, Paddy (Bug) Callaghan, Tom Brady, Tom Reddington (Brigade O/C)
Reference
Burning of the “Ballinalee” and renameing as the “Wild Rose of Lough Gill
“As I Was Among the Captives” Joseph Campbells Prison Diarieshttp://www.irishidentity.com/extras/battle/stories/ballinalee.htm
