Grave of Wolfe Tone, The

DESCRIPTION: "In Bodenstown churchyard there is a green grave ... Once I lay on that sod -- it lies over Wolfe Tone." He wakes to the sound of students and peasants who come to the grave to raise a simple monument "fit for the simple and true"
AUTHOR: Thomas Davis (source: Moylan-TheAgeOfRevolution-1776-1815)
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (_The Nation_, according to Moylan-TheAgeOfRevolution-1776-1815)
KEYWORDS: patriotic political Ireland burial
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 10, 1798 - Wolfe Tone (1763-1798) condemned to execution; he cuts his own throat to avoid hanging as a criminal (his request to face a firing squad had been denied)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland, p. 39, "The Grave of Wolfe Tone" (1 text)
OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads 32, "The Grave of Wolfe Tone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan-TheAgeOfRevolution-1776-1815 121, "The Grave of Wolfe Tone" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, p. 244, "Tone's Grave"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 481-482, "Tone's Grave" (1 text)
Roud #9313
RECORDINGS:
Liam Clancy, "In Bodenstown's Churchyard" (on IRLClancy01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(690), "Wolfe Tone's Grave!", Haly (Cork), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Emmett's Grave" (tune, broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(690))
NOTES [78 words]: Given Ireland's recent history, it's ironic to note that Wolfe Tone was a Protestant. For the history of the events that led to his execution, see the notes to "The Shan Van Voght." - RBW
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Bodenstown Churchyard" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
File: OCon039

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography