O Donal O'Connell, the Emancipator
was born in Carben in the County Kerry
his family dispossessed of their ancestral lands
they'd owned here in Ireland and here were buried
O weep no more Ireland
your sons will live free
for the English have no right
to e'er enslave thee
and when they come brutal
with guns and with swords
you stand you'll fight
if it takes evermore
He as a lawyer stood back and watched when
the streets ran in blood of United Irishmen
twas 1796 he did not know then
that one day he'd lead them to be free again
He was Irish and Catholic and filled with a dream
until he was challenged in 1815
to fight in a match with John of Esterre
and killed him in a duel in the County Kildare
Elected to Parliament he forced their hand
of the British Government to take a stand
they made free the Catholics so just to save face
and let Donal O'Connell take his rightful place
He told the poor farmers to fight for their rights
and so he ignited the War of the Tithes
and then the Act of Union he tried to repeal
in the Monster Meetings the nation did heal
They threw him in prison, his health it did fail
and though they released him, it poisoned his brain
and when last he died all of Ireland wailed
but if Eire needs him he will rise again
O weep no more Ireland
your sons will live free
for the English have no right
to e'er enslave thee
and when they come brutal
with guns and with swords
you stand you'll fight
if it takes evermore
Early Works is an exhaustive compilation of the first decade of the poems and stories of Z.B.McClure. Included are family photos, rare personal photos, photos of 1st draft manuscripts of many of his early poems. Also some biography and memoir materia
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