cd: Sultana
track 1: Aunt Bridie
Aunt Bridie never married
85 years on her own
She passed last Easter Sunday
And the sadness filled our home
She was the first one in our family
To “come over” on her own
She was the strongest woman
I have ever known
When the wake was over
And the sorrow work began
Sorting through her keepsakes
With a heavy heart in hand
From a battered leather suitcase
We found underneath her bed
Came a former life
That our Aunt Bridie led
Newspaper clippings
Grown frail and brown with age
A younger Bridie Halpin
Rose up from every page
In an old detention order
Dated 1923
Aunt Bridie in Kilmainham Gaol
The vision staggered me
Aunt Bridie, Aunt Bridie
Was a rebel in her time
She fought for her ould Ireland
When freedom was a crime
Aunt Bridie, Aunt Bridie
New things have come to light
You’ve opened up
My innocent eyes tonight
You’ve opened up
My innocent eyes tonight
Every piece of paper
Every photo weaved a tale
A tattered constitution
And a journal from the Gaol
It told of prison comrades
That were just as brave and strong
Who had fought there
Right beside her all along
Lashing out her anger
At the raiding Black and Tans
Frustration with the men folk
Who refused her helping hand
So many felt the women
Had no place there in the fight
But Bridie loved her country
And she would not be denied
CHORUS
All my history lessons
Watered down the tyrant’s rule
Ignoring all the troubles
It was never taught in school
But my new teacher spoke to me
So clearly from the grave
The sacrifice and passion
That she gave
Everything I read that night
And will always hold so dear
The words that closed her journal
Are the words the world should hear
Far Better be a rebel grave
With no cross or stone or name
Than a treaty with the ugly crown
The sorrow and the shame
CHORUS
© 2016 All Rights Reserved
Dulahan Music
Words & Music by Kyle Aughe