“Tipperary Far Away”

Description

A rebel, Sean Treacy, is dying by moonlight on Talbot Street in Dublin. He asks a passing comrade to take a lock of his hair and take it to his mother in his "native home In Tipperary far away." His comrades bury him.

Notes

According to _Phoenix Publishing Short History of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade_ on the eircom site, this song refers to Sean Treacy, shot October 14, 1920 in Talbot Street, Dublin. Treacy's body was returned to Tipperary for burial at Kilfeacle. Treacy was a member of the Third Tipperary Brigade. - BS

Perhaps the most popular of at least two and possibly three Sean Treacy songs. Robert Kee, in _Ourselves Alone_, being volume III of _The Green Flag_, p. 116, quotes another, "Our lovely Sean is dead and gone, Shot down in Talbot Street." This is said to have been adapted from an "ancient Irish lament." He does not cite a source for this statement.

For more on Treacy's short, tumultuous career, see the notes to "Sean Treacy." - RBW

Cross references

• cf. "Sean Treacy" (subject: the death of Treacy)
• cf. "The Station of Knocklong" (for other activities of Treacy)

Recordings

• The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Tipperary Far Away" (on IRClancyMakem03)