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"Boolavogue" is an Irish ballad commemorating the campaign of Father John Murphy and his army in County Wexford during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It was composed by Patrick Joseph McCall in 1898, the centenary of the Rebellion.
The ballad covers the victories of Father John Murphy of the village of Boolavogue in County Wexford as he led his parishioners in routing the Camolin Cavalry on 26 May 1798, to defeat the British at Oulart Hill, as well as at Enniscorthy. The Wexford insurgents fought bravely against professional troops, and were eventually defeated at the Battle of Vinegar Hill on 21 June. Father Murphy and the other leaders were hanged.
Father Murphy was a priest who at first tried to persuade people not to take part in the rebellion. He changed his opinion and became a reluctant rebel leader after soldiers burned down the homes of his parishioners whom they suspected of rebellion. The Lieutenant Thomas Bookey whose 'regiment' is mentioned in the song was the leader of the Yeoman Cavalry in the Boolavogue area.
McCall, who also composed the popular ballads "Kelly the Boy from Killanne" and "Follow Me up to Carlow", wrote "Boolavogue" to the old air "Eochaill" (in English, " Youghal Harbour"). The tune had previously been borrowed for the Irish/Australian traditional song "Moreton Bay" (1830), about an Irish convict's brutal treatment in Australia, and would later be used by Seán Ó Riada as part of the film score for Mise Éire (1959). The song was inspired by songs contemporary to the events of 1798 such as "Come All You Warriors".
Liam Gaul [1] states that "Boolavogue" is the song most closely associated with PJ McCall, and has become an anthem for Wexford. Gaul notes that "Boolavogue" was not published in any of McCall's literary works, and was first printed in the Irish Independent on 18 June 1898 under the title Fr Murphy of the County Wexford. This title was still being used when it appeared in the 1922 edition of Padraig Breathnach's Songs of the Gael. It was only later that the song became widely known as "Boolavogue".
McCall was from Dublin, but often visited Wexford, and was familiar with its history and geography. "Boolavogue" contains references to people and places that played a major part in the 1798 Rising.
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen. First formed in Belfast by Presbyterians opposed to the landed Anglican establishment, the Society, despairing of reform, sought to secure a republic through a revolutionary union with the country's Catholic majority. The grievances of a rack-rented tenantry drove recruitment.
The River Slaney is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on Lugnaquilla Mountain in the western Wicklow Mountains and flows west and then south through counties Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford for 117.5 km (73 mi), before entering St George's Channel in the Irish Sea at Wexford town. The estuary of the Slaney is wide and shallow and is known as Wexford Harbour. The catchment area of the River Slaney is 1,762 km2. The long term average flow rate of the River Slaney is 37.4m3/s
The Battle of Vinegar Hill was a military engagement during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on 21 June 1798 between a force of approximately 13,000 government troops under the command of Gerard Lake and 16,000 United Irishmen rebels led by Anthony Perry. The battle, a major rebel defeat, took place on 21 June 1798 on a large rebel camp on Vinegar Hill and in the streets of Enniscorthy, County Wexford and marked the last major attempt by the rebels to hold and control territory taken in Wexford.
The Battle of Oulart Hill took place on 27 May 1798 when a rebel gathering of between 4,000 and 5,000 annihilated a detachment of 110 militia sent from Wexford town to stamp out the spreading rebellion in County Wexford.
John Kelly lived in the town of Killanne in the parish of Rathnure, west of Enniscorthy, in County Wexford in Ireland, and was a United Irish leader who fought in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Kelly was obviously well known to rebels and loyalists alike during the short duration of the Wexford Rebellion but almost nothing is known of him outside this time. He was one of the leaders of the rebel victory at the Battle of Three Rocks which led to the capture of Wexford town but was later seriously wounded while leading a rebel column at the Battle of New Ross.
"The Wearing of the Green" is an Irish street ballad lamenting the repression of supporters of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It is to an old Irish air, and many versions of the lyric exist, the best-known being by Dion Boucicault. The song proclaims that "they are hanging men and women for the wearing of the green".
Boolavogue, also spelt Boolavoge or Boleyvogue, is a village 12 km northeast of Enniscorthy in County Wexford, Ireland. It is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns.
Nicholas Furlong was an Irish farmer, journalist, author and historian from County Wexford.
"The Rising of the Moon" is an Irish ballad recounting a battle between the United Irishmen, led by Wolfe Tone, against British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
John Murphy was an Irish Roman Catholic priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns, who is mainly remembered for his central role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in County Wexford, which is sometimes known as the Wexford Rebellion. He led the rebels to one of their initial victories over a government militia at Oulart Hill, and in the following weeks became one of the rebellion's main leaders.
Events from the year 1798 in Ireland.
Patrick Joseph McCall was an Irish songwriter and poet, known mostly as the author of lyrics for popular ballads. He was assisted in putting the Wexford ballads, dealing with the 1798 Rising, to music by Arthur Warren Darley using traditional Irish airs. His surname is one of the many anglicizations of the Irish surname Mac Cathmhaoil, a family that were chieftains of Kinel Farry in County Tyrone.
"The Boys of Wexford" is an Irish ballad commemorating the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and, more specifically, the Wexford Rebellion. The aim of rebellion was to remove English control from Irish affairs and it resulted in the 1801 Act of Union.
The Battle of the Harrow took place on 26 May 1798 and was the first clash of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in County Wexford. It was fought between government forces and United Irishmen insurgents under the leadership of a local priest, John Murphy who had mobilized following reports of atrocities by the yeomanry during the rebellion led by the United Irishmen revolutionary organisation.
Fr. Michael Murphy was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and United Irishmen leader during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
The Wexford Rebellion refers to the events of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in County Wexford. From 27 May until 21 June 1798, Society of United Irishmen rebels revolted against British rule in the county, engaging in multiple confrontations with Crown forces. The most successful and destructive rising in all the counties of Ireland, United Irishmen rebels experienced a number of early successes in the county despite being seen as a relatively loyal county by the Dublin Castle administration due to a series of military victories. However, the tide soon turned against the United Irishmen in Wexford as Crown forces poured into the region, engaging in a brutal counterinsurgency which indiscriminately targeted suspected rebels and eventually suppressed all rebel activities in the county.
"Come All You Warriors" is a ballad concerning the 1798 Rising. The narrative focuses on the predominant figure in the Wexford Rising, Father John Murphy of the parish of Boulavogue.
Jimmy Murphy also known as 'Little Jimmy Murphy' is a song, possibly of music-hall origin, referencing the 1798 rebellion, which occurred largely in Wexford.
