This day we all remember
\nAs we are asked to and yet
\nIt seems our own who faught for their own land
\nWe are asked to forget.<\/p>\n
Tom Kettle: a hugely popular teacher at UCD
\nFree Gallant Little Belgium
\nThat raped Africa to the bone
\nAnd fight the Kaiser for freedom:
\nWas Germany to Ireland the Imperial one?
\nDid Germany let the Irish starve
\nForce us to speak their tongue
\nReduce our people on the social ladder
\nTo be the lowest rung?
\nDid these men who fought neath the flag
\nFight for Ireland in their time?
\nOr did they stone Sinn Fein offices in Banagher
\nSaying to fight for freedom was a crime?
\nLet us remember OUR HEROS
\nWho for OUR FREEDOM fought
\nRemember them, and not forget
\nEvery Irishman ought.<\/p>\n
In the pogroms of Ulster
\nIn 1969, it was said
\nThey would not idly stand by:
\nWords uttered but instead
\nThey DID stand by, and cornerboys
\nFrom the Bogside and the Falls
\nBecame men when they took up the gun
\nFor they WERE MEN, with BALLS
\nAnd the Free States Plastic Army
\nProtected no one at all
\nAnd the brave hunger strikers
\nAll but criminals them they did call
\nAtrocities were by our side committed
\nThat I admit and dont deny
\nBut I am proud of ALL the men
\nWho faught so ur flag on our land can fly.
\nThe men of the Somme faught not for Ireland
\nBut for the Empire they carried the gun
\nPeasents, it was with shotguns
\nAnd cornerboys, our freedom for us won.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This day we all remember As we are asked to and yet It seems our own who faught for their own land We are asked to forget. Tom Kettle: a hugely popular teacher at UCD Free Gallant Little Belgium That raped Africa to the bone And fight the Kaiser for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[476,37,97,530],"tags":[1381,1380,1379,336,644,389],"class_list":["post-1221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1916-easter-rising","category-irish-war-of-independence-1919-1921","category-the-great-war","category-the-troubles-since-1969","tag-great-war","tag-irish-in-the-great-war","tag-tom-kettle","tag-war-2","tag-war-poetry-2","tag-world-war-one","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-jH","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3515,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/a-land-worth-fighting-for\/","url_meta":{"origin":1221,"position":0},"title":"A Land Worth Fighting For","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"8th February 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a land worth fighting for\" William of Orange - attrib. \"I fought to liberate the Protestants, not oppress the Catholics\" William of Orange King William, though made a champion of the Orange Order, was a fair general, making good Treatys with the surrendering cities. He and his Williamite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Battle of the Boyne"","block_context":{"text":"Battle of the Boyne","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/irelands-wars\/battle-of-the-boyne\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Looking down on Aughrim Village from the Jacobite positions which was a carpark during the Aughrim Horse Fair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Looking-down-on-Aughrim-Village-from-the-Jacobite-positions-which-was-a-carpark-during-the-Aughrim-Horse-Fair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Looking-down-on-Aughrim-Village-from-the-Jacobite-positions-which-was-a-carpark-during-the-Aughrim-Horse-Fair.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Looking-down-on-Aughrim-Village-from-the-Jacobite-positions-which-was-a-carpark-during-the-Aughrim-Horse-Fair.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Looking-down-on-Aughrim-Village-from-the-Jacobite-positions-which-was-a-carpark-during-the-Aughrim-Horse-Fair.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Looking-down-on-Aughrim-Village-from-the-Jacobite-positions-which-was-a-carpark-during-the-Aughrim-Horse-Fair.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2474,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/those-who-fought-on-that-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":1221,"position":1},"title":"Those Who Fought on That Side","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"2nd January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many men faught not for Ireland But under another flag And of their deeds our folklore feeds Of them we like to brag But there are those of whom A silence does not speak A veil is drawn as if to warn That knowledge of them one should not seek.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ulster Scots"","block_context":{"text":"Ulster Scots","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/ulster-scots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"He never fired a shot, but was part of the regime. Many other Irish did, only a few of the less successful and addition being profiled in the book ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.culturenorthernireland.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/slideshow_-_non-scaled_full_width\/public\/francisstuart.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1106,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/life-to-his-kind-was-a-game-of-chance\/","url_meta":{"origin":1221,"position":2},"title":"Life to His Kind Was a Game of Chance – the story of Tom Reilly, an Irish Soldier of Fortune","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"11th November 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pZ1DRqo2UNQ Adventures sake Brought the young sons of Erin Into uniform Thoughts of great glory Among shot and shell in hell Of the battlefield To return to home To kisses of loved ones And relieved mothers As hero's of old Of whom they heard as children At their mothers knee.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Non Rhyming Poems"","block_context":{"text":"Non Rhyming Poems","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/non-rhyming-poems\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tom Reilly, an Irish Soldier of Fortune","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tomreilly.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tomreilly.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tomreilly.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4621,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/remembering-ballinamuck-and-the-rebels-who-died\/","url_meta":{"origin":1221,"position":3},"title":"Remembering Ballinamuck and the Rebels Who Died","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"26th February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Remembering the Irish who died at the Battle of Ballinamuck","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Stack of turf in Edenmore Bog with Cairn Hill in background in North Longford","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Stack-of-turf-in-Edenmore-Bog-with-Cairn-Hill-in-background-in-North-Longford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2863,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/three-men-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":1221,"position":4},"title":"Three Men Dead","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"22nd June 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"On listening to a talk about three men killed by firing squad in Birr castle in 1922 during the Irish Civil War. They were killed for breaking and entering, not as a combatant element. No poems written, no ballads sung Yet feted as hero's, from life's bottom rung Shot as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birr"","block_context":{"text":"Birr","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/birr\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"In this archway the three Republican prisoners were executed by Free State forces at Birr Castle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/In-this-archway-the-three-Republican-prisoners-were-executed-by-Free-State-forces-at-Birr-Castle-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4448,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/dervogilla\/","url_meta":{"origin":1221,"position":5},"title":"Dervogilla","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"10th February 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Dermots passion, in stealing Teirnans wife, would have an effect on #Ireland that would last longer than the better known wars of Troy ...","rel":"","context":"In "Arrival of the Normans"","block_context":{"text":"Arrival of the Normans","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/irelands-wars\/arrival-of-the-normans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dermots passion, in stealing Teirnans wife, would have an effect on a nation that would last longer than the better known wars of Troy over Helen...","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rostapestry.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Panel02-The-Abduction-of-Dervorgilla.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rostapestry.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Panel02-The-Abduction-of-Dervorgilla.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rostapestry.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Panel02-The-Abduction-of-Dervorgilla.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rostapestry.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Panel02-The-Abduction-of-Dervorgilla.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1221"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1222,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions\/1222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}