Wednesday 9 March 2011
Tune of the Day: The Foggy Dew
Traditional Irish march
This is a very old Irish rebel song going back to the Irish War of Independence. The lyrics, which deal with the Easter Uprising of 1916, were written by Charles O’Neill, a parish priest at Kilcoo and later Newcastle, County Down, in 1919. The melody is apparently based on an old traditional Irish song called “The Banks of Moorlough Shore”.
The Foggy Dew has been recorded by several leading Irish performers, including Luke Kelly, The Wolfe Tones and The Dubliners. Sinead O’Connor and The Chieftains also recorded a slow, beautifully haunting version of the song.