![\"Ballinamuck\"](\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ballinamuck-281x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I<\/p>\n
From fields we came where often blood was shed
\nOf men from France, a land so far afield
\nAnd England too, they the sword and bloodshed knew
\nFew they who’d their position easy yield.
\nFrom cold earth, stony, soft earth rush ridden
\nOur people they strove, a living for to make
\nNot to be rich, from bounty of the land
\nMerely to survive, for its own sake.<\/p>\n
II<\/p>\n
Rebellions: they came and went, world wars too
\nCivil wars, all caused bitterness and pain
\nDeath visited each act of the Savage Play
\nAll men lost, for a while did any gain.
\nThe one constant, hungry mouths to be fed
\nWorry – the year’s harvest – enough would bring?
\nAmerica, escape, always beckoned
\nLand where men could’ve all: everything.<\/p>\n
III<\/p>\n
Some men went in their time, fewer returned
\nTo till lands their fathers with horses ploughed
\nSome men chased riches, they are running still
\nA race the more you race, the more allowed.
\nMore sought solace in whoring arms of drink
\nThat Lady who to all will comfort give
\nHer kisses – as false permanent the night!
\nFaced the new day sober each man must live.<\/p>\n
IV<\/p>\n
The land a cruel mistress of promises
\nThe little she gives, it’s but a token
\nFalse, real enough to make man carry on
\nHoping bigger promise wont be broken
\nBut it always is, life it is a struggle
\nShould man choose to eke living from the land
\nBefore a man to break the earth with plough
\nThis universal truth must understand.<\/p>\n
V<\/p>\n
But men are born to this life, to this game
\nAnnual gamble with nature we often lose
\nNever to win, rare draw, often know loss.
\nIt’s not a game or team to join we choose.
\nIn time a stranger to this land she came
\nFluttering eye’s, she brave promises made
\nFollow her, know all life has to offer
\nLeave land of your forefathers, she bade.<\/p>\n
VI<\/p>\n
Man, as if love stricken, rose from his seat
\nPledged follow the fair damsel where she went
\nRarely saw her, and sought more to see
\nBut he always of her, he knew her scent.
\nShe brought him from his forefathers land
\nHe left them behind him, lands and bones
\nChase factories riches, far from the land
\nNo more struggling sick cattle, rushes, stones.<\/p>\n
VII<\/p>\n
She brought him from his culture, all he knew
\nTo a land of strangers, though of his blood
\nHappy was he to be on road he chose
\nYet he knew to have left, he never should.
\nAs if ghosts – they of generations past
\nCried through times veil – you’ve forsaken us!!!
\nYet he pressed on, and with each step he made
\nStarted for his family, the Exodus.<\/p>\n
I<\/p>\n
Drumlin hills, curves pleasing to the eye
\nPlayed host to a man. his dreams for a while
\nBut the promises of a Promised Land
\nWere left behind, to walk another mile
\nMore battle scenes where River Shannon flows
\nGave host in peaceful times to man
\nEternal wanderer of a notion
\nMaking living every way he can.<\/p>\n
II<\/p>\n
The two staid friends, to which he always turned
\nStood by him, times of trial, as friends true
\nMistress Land, so false her promises be
\nAlso the Brown Bog, as a friend he knew.
\nBut the Mistress Drink, she too conform gave
\nAs she done to many other’s before
\nMade the journey more bearable for a time
\nGave heart to him to work and wander more.<\/p>\n
III<\/p>\n
A new friend, Master Stone, made himself known
\nWhen all else was gone, somewhere he’d be
\nNot much help, but the only help when needed
\nIf all men they could have a friend like he!
\nThe worlds whirling dance of economy
\nEbbed and flowed, Capitalism master then!
\nOur wanderer home found in a Shannon town
\nWhere he sleeps now, never to wander again!<\/p>\n
His son, a wanderer himself by heart
\nBy Shannon grew up, never learned to swim
\nWas at home everywhere and no where
\nSought to live, work wherever, on a whim
\nSaw Europe’s lands as a man passing through
\nOn the great journey that is life’s road
\nTo see the world for rushed weeks he could afford
\nReturning taking up Capitalism’s load.<\/p>\n
II<\/p>\n
Grew up to stories of a land that was but a dream
\nOf both his parents, who long stories told
\nOf when they were young, carefree in fields played
\nAnd of speaks of other folks who then were old.
\nThis land, came and went in the youngsters mind
\nWho grew to dance the Promises given
\nBy Capitalism, his fathers hearts mistress
\nHer lies soon understood, not forgiven.<\/p>\n
III<\/p>\n
Two souls in their time back to earth given
\nFar from their forefathers, their old land
\nBut many towns, and many peoples
\nOf them have known, actions of word and hand.
\nThey lie now, among strangers who became friends
\nIn workplaces, neighborhoods, the local bar
\nThat is life for all men, both great and small
\nHuman: it’s what we all, for all we are.<\/p>\n
IV<\/p>\n
To those bloodsoaked fields of former times
\nFrench and English gored each other with Pike
\nIrishmen brave fighting on both sides
\nDepending on which at the time they’d like!
\nThe Son now returns, wandering over
\nTo bones of ancestors that he in time he’ll be
\nBut in photo a face, hopefully others
\nWill in time live in this land like he.<\/p>\n
V<\/p>\n
All men they are dreamers, they seek a dream
\nTravel wide, on promises by others made
\nProven as false. permanent as the night
\nOn death all men set to sleep under spade.
\nAll men seek to live among the tribe
\nAmong others they identify as “us”
\nAnd so with the son, to his roots returns
\nSo it ends this tribes short Exodus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exodus – The Leaving I From fields we came where often blood was shed Of men from France, a land so far afield And England too, they the sword and bloodshed knew Few they who’d their position easy yield. From cold earth, stony, soft earth rush ridden Our people they …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[659,42,660],"class_list":["post-431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-north-longford","tag-diaspora","tag-longford","tag-longford-diaspora","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-6X","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4575,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/folk-of-the-land-of-the-whin\/","url_meta":{"origin":431,"position":0},"title":"Folk of the Land of the Whin","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"3rd December 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"From where to the world's four corners spread All desire to, but few manage to return To children tales told, songs sung its said For deep within a fire does burn A sense of place, of people, who we are Our history, our culture we pass on To those after\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "\"Home Made\" Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"\"Home Made\" Anthology","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/bibliography\/home-made-anthology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bog at Edenmore, Ballinamuck, Co. Longford - many rebels of the 1798 Rebellion perished here while more used the cover to escape.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/20150318_141658-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/20150318_141658-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/20150318_141658-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3718,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/gheluvelt\/","url_meta":{"origin":431,"position":1},"title":"Gheluvelt","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"13th May 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the quirks behind Gheluvelt was not alone was our Donegal freind of Longford extraction in the field, but it was the battle that gave the war legs to a certain Adolf Hitler, an Austrian to have a global prominence. The 16th of which Hitler was part of were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "North Longford"","block_context":{"text":"North Longford","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/north-longford\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ist Battalion Queens Own Surrey Rgt in Aldershot in August 1914 - John Dopping Boyd at back at extreme right","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ist-Battalion-Queens-Own-Surrey-Rgt-in-Aldershot-in-August-1914-John-Dopping-Boyd-at-back-at-extreme-right.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ist-Battalion-Queens-Own-Surrey-Rgt-in-Aldershot-in-August-1914-John-Dopping-Boyd-at-back-at-extreme-right.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ist-Battalion-Queens-Own-Surrey-Rgt-in-Aldershot-in-August-1914-John-Dopping-Boyd-at-back-at-extreme-right.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ist-Battalion-Queens-Own-Surrey-Rgt-in-Aldershot-in-August-1914-John-Dopping-Boyd-at-back-at-extreme-right.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ist-Battalion-Queens-Own-Surrey-Rgt-in-Aldershot-in-August-1914-John-Dopping-Boyd-at-back-at-extreme-right.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":167,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/the-wrecking-of-ballinamuck\/","url_meta":{"origin":431,"position":2},"title":"The Wrecking of Ballinamuck","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"11th June 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In the years before the Famine, Greedy Lord Lorton, God damn the nyeuck* For the love of money and hatred of man Cleared the town of Ballinamuck... Levelled, all bar six houses and church left standing The latter only after a fight, To the cold, the young and old, Had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "North Longford"","block_context":{"text":"North Longford","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/north-longford\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Village of Ballinamuck in Longford, the chapels spire can be seen which stands on the site of the mud walled church that was saved from the wrecking crew.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/The-Village-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/The-Village-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/The-Village-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/The-Village-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/The-Village-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2724,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/war-with-the-whin\/","url_meta":{"origin":431,"position":3},"title":"War with the Whin","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"9th May 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Whin\" is the word for furze in Hiberno English and Ulster Scots in the northern half of Ireland (North Leinster and Connacht, and all of Ulster, both the section in the Republic and in Northern Ireland) by the Irish and the Scots, gorse is the name in the east (Dublin\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Nature","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/nature-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Never known as a sign of wealth in my family, the whins were cursed as being a sign of bad land. But not according to the old saying...","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Furze-and-Rushes-on-the-site-of-The-Battle-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Furze-and-Rushes-on-the-site-of-The-Battle-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Furze-and-Rushes-on-the-site-of-The-Battle-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Furze-and-Rushes-on-the-site-of-The-Battle-of-Ballinamuck.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4769,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/john-darrell-boyd-elegy-on-an-deceased-airman\/","url_meta":{"origin":431,"position":4},"title":"John Darrell Boyd – Elegy on an Deceased Airman","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"16th October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the few of your clan, you died... Who fought in so many wars over the years - Your young bride, the tears she must have cried, To see realised a spouses fears... What a shadow under which to be born, The story of your father, though little known!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Death"","block_context":{"text":"Death","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/death\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.celtichosting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SS-Almeda-Star.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.celtichosting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SS-Almeda-Star.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.celtichosting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SS-Almeda-Star.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2613,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/no-dancing-sun-this-easter-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":431,"position":5},"title":"No Dancing Sun This Easter Morning","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"27th March 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"No dancing sun the Easter morning As the birds sing in the sky I sleepy look out at the dawn As the clouds slowly roll by. The black gives way to a grey and blue Behind which the sun fails to show That my grandfather said in the sky it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "1916 Easter Rising"","block_context":{"text":"1916 Easter Rising","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/irelands-wars\/1916-easter-rising\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dawn at Ballybrit this Easter Morning - the sun is not dancing in the sky but hidden behind clouds","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Dawn-at-Ballybrit-this-Easter-Morning-the-sun-is-not-dancing-in-the-sky-but-hidden-behind-clouds.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Dawn-at-Ballybrit-this-Easter-Morning-the-sun-is-not-dancing-in-the-sky-but-hidden-behind-clouds.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Dawn-at-Ballybrit-this-Easter-Morning-the-sun-is-not-dancing-in-the-sky-but-hidden-behind-clouds.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Dawn-at-Ballybrit-this-Easter-Morning-the-sun-is-not-dancing-in-the-sky-but-hidden-behind-clouds.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Dawn-at-Ballybrit-this-Easter-Morning-the-sun-is-not-dancing-in-the-sky-but-hidden-behind-clouds.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431","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=431"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":433,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions\/433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}