"Belfast Brigade" is an Irish folk song to the tune of the "

Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is an American patriotic music, American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War. Howe adapted her song from the soldiers' song "John Brown's Body" in N ...

Context

The song is about the Belfast Brigade of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

(IRA), and in particular the 1st, or West Belfast battalion, during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

in the 1920s. Reference is made to

James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC Privy Council of Northern Ireland, PC (NI) Deputy Lieutenant, DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Unionists (Ireland), Irish unionist and a ...

, the first Prime Minister of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

who is accused of sending the 'Specials' or

Ulster Special Constabulary The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military Military reserve, reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, short ...

, to 'shoot the people down'. This is a reference to the large number of Catholics who were killed by the Special Constabulary in the conflict. In Christy Moore's version, the lyrics in this verse are "the

Black and Tans The Black and Tans () were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920, and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflic ...

from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

came to shoot the people down" Reference is also made to Seaforde Street in the

Short Strand The Short Strand () is a working class, inner city area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a mainly Catholic and Irish nationalist enclave surrounded by the mainly Protestant and unionist East Belfast. Short Strand is located on the east ban ...

area of east Belfast, which was often the scene of armed encounters between the IRA, British forces and loyalist gunmen. Alternative versions of the song contain a reference to the Falls Road area instead of Seaforde Street. Other lyrics specific to the 1920s are references to

armoured cars Armored (or armoured) car may refer to: Wheeled armored vehicles * Armored car (military), a wheeled armoured fighting vehicle * Armored car (valuables), an armored van or truck used to transport valuables * Armored car (VIP), a civilian vehic ...

and Crossley Tenders armoured trucks which were used by the Northern Ireland Security forces at the time. The British use of such heavy weaponry is contrasted with the poor arms possessed by the IRA, who are nevertheless, 'ready to defend ourselves no matter where we go'. The song includes the original war cry of the Belfast Brigade, "No surrender! Is the war cry of the Belfast Brigade." In some versions of the song, there is an allusion to the politics of the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

of 1922-1923, 'We're out for our

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

and to hell with your Free State'. The Belfast Brigade in fact largely supported

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

during the civil war, although many of them changed their opinion when it became clear that the

Partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland () was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (the area today known as the R ...

would be permanent. In other versions of the song, this internal Republican disagreement is not mentioned, the words being changed to, ' Orangemen may live in dread'. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the

Connolly Column The Connolly Column (, ) was the name given to a group of Irish socialist volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, Irish republican socialist Military volunteer, volunteers who fought for the Second Spanish Republic in the International Brigades d ...

, an Irish volunteer unit of the 15th International Brigade, sang the song while fighting against

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

's nationalists. In the 1970s, with the onset of

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

, another version of the song emerged about the

Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's brigades, based in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The nucleus of the Belfast Brigade emerged in the divisions within Belf ...

. The lyrics were changed to 'the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

came to Belfast to shoot the people down...'

References

{{authority control Irish folk songs Irish rebel songs Year of song unknown Songs with unknown songwriters