Back in the nineties I was listening to this song and also Viva La Quinta Brigada by Christy Moore. Both songs mention Frank Ryan - I asked my father about him and he said I should talk to my Gran. I knew my Gran had supported the anti-fascists in the Spanish Civil War by knitting balaclavas and now she told me about this and also hearing La Pasionaria speak in Manchester, throwing stones at blackshirts and a bit of Frank Ryan's history - he was a Church of Ireland minister I gather.
Back in the nineties I was listening to this song and also Viva La Quinta Brigada by Christy Moore. Both songs mention Frank Ryan - I asked my father about him and he said I should talk to my Gran. I knew my Gran had supported the anti-fascists in the Spanish Civil War by knitting balaclavas and now she told me about this and also hearing La Pasionaria speak in Manchester, throwing stones at blackshirts and a bit of Frank Ryan's history - he was a Church of Ireland minister I gather.
@Moonwood I think you are confusing Frank Ryan with the line in Viva La Quinta Brigada "Bob Hilliard was a Church of Ireland pastor".
@Moonwood I think you are confusing Frank Ryan with the line in Viva La Quinta Brigada "Bob Hilliard was a Church of Ireland pastor".
Ryan wasn't a minister, he was a teacher, journalist, politician and fighter.
Ryan wasn't a minister, he was a teacher, journalist, politician and fighter.
I checked and found you were right. I had misremembered the lyric.
I checked and found you were right. I had misremembered the lyric.