The Ballad Of Thomas Traynor
[air The Croppy Boy Song ] This ballad was written to commemorate the death of Volunteer Thomas Traynor, 3rd Battalion old IRA who was executed in Mountjoy Jail on the 25th of April 1921. [ Another famous man killed there was Kevin Barry ]
He left a wife and family of ten young children. His remains were buried in Mountjoy, along with nine other executed Volunteers and refused to his family for burial.
In October 2001 his remains were finally exhumed and reinterned with full military honors in a dedicated republican plot in Glasnevin Cemetery, dedicated to these ''Forgotten Ten''.
In recognition of this act of closure, the final two verses of this song have been composed by his family.
He left a wife and family of ten young children. His remains were buried in Mountjoy, along with nine other executed Volunteers and refused to his family for burial.
In October 2001 his remains were finally exhumed and reinterned with full military honors in a dedicated republican plot in Glasnevin Cemetery, dedicated to these ''Forgotten Ten''.
In recognition of this act of closure, the final two verses of this song have been composed by his family.
'Twas early, early one Monday morn
As the small birds sang in the flush of dawn
On a Monday morning on the gallows high
Brave Thomas Traynor was led out to die.
Led forth to die in his manhood prime
No flag did flutter no bell did chime
But the rosary spoken came sweet and clear
From the people gathered 'round the jail gate near.
Let my loving wife neither weep nor sigh
For Ireland's freedom I am proud to die
I'm proud to die though my children dear
A father's voice never more shall hear.
Fight not for vengence when I am dead
Nor from duty's path let your mind be led
But fight for freedom for the cause I die
And place your trush in the great God on high.
Like music soft on the morning air
The people's voice rise in murmured prayer
The bolt is drawn tight the fatal cord
Tom Traynor's soul is now safe with God.
The sarcrifice for his land is made
In the prison grounds is his body laid
With the sainted martyrs of liberty
Who died that Ireland might soon be free.
And in that jail did his body lay
A futher price he had yet to pay
For four score years while all his loved one's died
His family's right to mourn denied.
Then came the day one October morn
On his grandson's shoulders he was proudly borne
To a sacred plot with great dignity
Rejoice with us at last his spirit's free
As the small birds sang in the flush of dawn
On a Monday morning on the gallows high
Brave Thomas Traynor was led out to die.
Led forth to die in his manhood prime
No flag did flutter no bell did chime
But the rosary spoken came sweet and clear
From the people gathered 'round the jail gate near.
Let my loving wife neither weep nor sigh
For Ireland's freedom I am proud to die
I'm proud to die though my children dear
A father's voice never more shall hear.
Fight not for vengence when I am dead
Nor from duty's path let your mind be led
But fight for freedom for the cause I die
And place your trush in the great God on high.
Like music soft on the morning air
The people's voice rise in murmured prayer
The bolt is drawn tight the fatal cord
Tom Traynor's soul is now safe with God.
The sarcrifice for his land is made
In the prison grounds is his body laid
With the sainted martyrs of liberty
Who died that Ireland might soon be free.
And in that jail did his body lay
A futher price he had yet to pay
For four score years while all his loved one's died
His family's right to mourn denied.
Then came the day one October morn
On his grandson's shoulders he was proudly borne
To a sacred plot with great dignity
Rejoice with us at last his spirit's free