Shane explained that he lived at his uncle's Irish pub in Essex for some time and this was written about a conglomeration of characters who went in there - pissheads basically - who had loads of tales from their pasts. One got syphillis in Cologne, one got drunk with Frank Ryan (the leader of the Irish members of the International Brigade who fought Franco's fascists in the Spanish Civil War) and one who was on a bender in the Euston Tavern (a pub near the London railway station), etc., etc. He also name-checks his local cemetery in North Tipperary, Ireland, Cloughprior. Throughout Shane's writing there are lots of mentions of places in this area.
I was really impressed by his mention of Frank Ryan. There aren't even many Irish people who know who he is so for Shane to mention him in one of his early songs could demonstrate what a good knowledge of Irish Republican history that his family had and how they brought him up to know this history. For the record, Frank Ryan not only was a republican leader in Ireland and the leader of the small Irish contingent that fought against the Fascists in Spain but he bizarrely also visited Nazi Germany during WW2 to see if there was any common ground between the IRA and Hitler.
Christy Moore's "Viva la Quinta Brigade" is all about the Irish volunteers in Spain and was released about a year before Rum, Sodomy and The Lash and so it could be that Shane had simply picked off the history from Christy Moore.
It's a bit more complicated than Frank Ryan visited Nazi Germany.
It's a bit more complicated than Frank Ryan visited Nazi Germany.
He was captured in Spain in 1938 and held in prison in Madrid until 1940 when the Spanish handed him over to German Intelligence. He was brought to Berlin where he was reunited with Sean Russell,
He was captured in Spain in 1938 and held in prison in Madrid until 1940 when the Spanish handed him over to German Intelligence. He was brought to Berlin where he was reunited with Sean Russell,
Russell was at that time Chief of Staff of the IRA and HE had gone to Berlin on behalf of the IRA to forge links with the Nazis. It's not as bizarre as it might seem, after all most of the guns for the 1916 rising came from the Kaiser's Germany, Wolfe Tone and Emmett got support from Napolean's France, essentially both sides were thinking along the lines of "my enemy's enemy is my friend".
When Ryan arrived there was a plan underway to transport Russell back to Ireland to make contact with German operatives there, Ryan agreed to go with him, Russell died on the way and they decided to abort the mission and Ryan was brought back to Berlin where he lived until his death in 1944.
He had reconciled his political differences with the IRA leadership (he split from the IRA in the 1930s to form a left wing party called Republican Congress) and was effectively the IRA representative in Germany from 1940-1944 although after 1942 when the US had entered the war the potential for an invasion of Ireland by either Britain or Germany had pretty much vanished so the usefulness of the IRA to the Nazis and the usefulness of the Nazis to the IRA reduced massively.
Shane explained that he lived at his uncle's Irish pub in Essex for some time and this was written about a conglomeration of characters who went in there - pissheads basically - who had loads of tales from their pasts. One got syphillis in Cologne, one got drunk with Frank Ryan (the leader of the Irish members of the International Brigade who fought Franco's fascists in the Spanish Civil War) and one who was on a bender in the Euston Tavern (a pub near the London railway station), etc., etc. He also name-checks his local cemetery in North Tipperary, Ireland, Cloughprior. Throughout Shane's writing there are lots of mentions of places in this area.
I was really impressed by his mention of Frank Ryan. There aren't even many Irish people who know who he is so for Shane to mention him in one of his early songs could demonstrate what a good knowledge of Irish Republican history that his family had and how they brought him up to know this history. For the record, Frank Ryan not only was a republican leader in Ireland and the leader of the small Irish contingent that fought against the Fascists in Spain but he bizarrely also visited Nazi Germany during WW2 to see if there was any common ground between the IRA and Hitler.
Christy Moore's "Viva la Quinta Brigade" is all about the Irish volunteers in Spain and was released about a year before Rum, Sodomy and The Lash and so it could be that Shane had simply picked off the history from Christy Moore.
It's a bit more complicated than Frank Ryan visited Nazi Germany.
It's a bit more complicated than Frank Ryan visited Nazi Germany.
He was captured in Spain in 1938 and held in prison in Madrid until 1940 when the Spanish handed him over to German Intelligence. He was brought to Berlin where he was reunited with Sean Russell,
He was captured in Spain in 1938 and held in prison in Madrid until 1940 when the Spanish handed him over to German Intelligence. He was brought to Berlin where he was reunited with Sean Russell,
Russell was at that time Chief of Staff of the IRA and HE had gone to Berlin on behalf of the IRA to forge links with the Nazis. It's not as bizarre as it might seem, after all most of the guns for the 1916 rising came from the Kaiser's Germany, Wolfe Tone and Emmett got support from Napolean's France, essentially both sides were thinking along the lines of "my enemy's enemy is my friend".
When Ryan arrived there was a plan underway to transport Russell back to Ireland to make contact with German operatives there, Ryan agreed to go with him, Russell died on the way and they decided to abort the mission and Ryan was brought back to Berlin where he lived until his death in 1944.
He had reconciled his political differences with the IRA leadership (he split from the IRA in the 1930s to form a left wing party called Republican Congress) and was effectively the IRA representative in Germany from 1940-1944 although after 1942 when the US had entered the war the potential for an invasion of Ireland by either Britain or Germany had pretty much vanished so the usefulness of the IRA to the Nazis and the usefulness of the Nazis to the IRA reduced massively.
@Bigblue1894 @HorseQuack
@Bigblue1894 @HorseQuack
Great comment HorseQuack
Great comment HorseQuack