SING A SONG FOR IRELAND (AND DIXIE)!

Several recent missteps aside, I consider Ireland to be one of the best models Southern Nationalists can use to free our land. The Irish have fought back against foreign rule for centuries, facing defeat after defeat, but always managing to pick themselves back up, reorganize, and train the next generation to continue the fight.

Identity Dixie –

To study Irish history is to study resiliency and determination, to study a nation capable of producing generation after generation of men, motivated by the love of their nation, that could not be told that their dream would never come to fruition. It truly is motivational and the fact that so many of us have Irish blood in our veins makes it even better – the Irish are, in many ways, a cousin people to Southerners.

The reasons why the Irish were able to fight for as long as they did are numerous. To fully study not only the various rebellions themselves, but also the strategies employed, could produce enough books to fill a small, or even large, library. My intention with this article is not to produce a comprehensive list of how the Irish resisted, but rather focus on one element of Irish culture that is absolutely necessary in understanding how the Irish maintained their own nation, even under such dire circumstances. My focus here will be on the ways in which the Irish used music to save their culture and inspire great deeds of resistance against British occupation. I will do this by highlighting three key components of Irish music, as it relates to how the Irish leveraged their music to nurture rebellions against Britain.

One of the most important traits of Irish music is that it can be easily hummed. This is not a coincidence, but an important trait that allowed Irish music to survive. When the Irish would revolt, the British, as soon as they repressed it, would take away instruments from the Irish. By having music that could be easily hummed, the Irish crafted a way in which they could preserve their music without instruments. Thus, when they got their instruments back, they were able to pick up right where they left off. All they had to do was translate what they had already been humming back into music. There was no way for the British to break Ireland from her music – baring creating some kind of method to erase memories from the brains of the Irish, they would have to kill every Irishman and Irishwoman who was able to hum an Irish nationalist song. Southerners must take a page from this playbook. In ClownWorld 2022, “Dixie” cannot be played. So, the task of every Southerner must be to know the song by heart, preserving it for future generations. The same principle applies to “The Bonnie Blue Flag,” “Wearing of the Grey,” and a host of other songs that tell the story of the South and her fight for freedom.

Another important aspect of Irish rebel music is how the same song would be constantly reworked to tell the story of new events, thus creating a cyclical nature of Irish rebellions against foreign rule. Just as a past generation or some great hero rose up for Ireland’s cause, so must a later generation or champion. Solidifying the link between different generations and personalities was the fact that the songs, which commemorated both distinctive events, would use many of the same elements. Roddy McCorley was a brave young Irish patriot who rose up against the heel of Britain in the Rebellion of 1798 and, for his part, was honored in song. Generations later, during the Border Campaign in the 1950s, another brave Irish patriot, Sean South, died in a firefight against British troops in an attempt to drive Britain from Ireland and was also honored in song – one that used the same melody as McCorley’s, consequently creating a link between the two men and suggesting that the fight for Ireland must go on. We must do the same, use our old songs to tell stories of the great heroes of Dixie that have resisted Yankee rule since 1865.

But above all else, one aspect of the Irish rebel music tradition stands above the rest and might be the most important aspect of the entire genre is it allowed the Irish to more easily tell their children the stories of great Irish patriots and prepare them for the next rebellion against England. Remember, the British ran the school system in Ireland and used it as a way to teach Irish children to be obedient Englishmen rather than good Irishmen, similar to how the Yankee education system in Dixie teaches Southern children to be compliant Yankees. This is why Padraig Pearse named the education system as the greatest and most cruel evil the British ever forced on the Irish. By utilizing an already great Southern tradition of music, we can do the same and pass these stories down to future generations, even as our enemies control the education system in Dixie. We have a strong musical tradition in which we can draw from – country, bluegrass (itself very similar to Irish folk music), and much more were invented by us. We must take this tradition and create a workaround in which we can tell our stories and prepare the next generation to fight.

I love Irish music, especially that which tells the story of Ireland’s struggle against foreign rule. The past 30 years may have gone horribly for Ireland, but there is still much to inspire and much to learn in how Ireland was able to resist Britain for so long, staging rebellion after rebellion, until finally one was successful. Though only part of the explanation as to how Ireland was able to pull this off, music is still an important part of this tradition. We can learn to hum “Dixie” when the Yankees ban it. We can use the classics of Southern Nationalist music to tell new stories. We can, above all else, use these songs as a vehicle in which we can motivate future generations of the glories of Dixie. What Ireland accomplished in song, so can we.

And, since I know everyone is wondering – here are my ten favorite Irish songs (no artist listed, as they are commonly performed by multiple artists):