The Valley Of Knockanure lyrics and chords, written by Brian McMahon.
I first heard this from 'The Wolfe Tones in the 70s, Brian tells of a very brave group of lads who saved their village from
almost certain ruin and bloodshed at the hands of 'The Black And Tans' The sheet music and tin whistle notes are
below with a abc for easy playing
You[Em] may sing and[D] speak about[C] Easter[Am] Week and the[Bm] heroes of[C] Ninety[Em] Eight. Of[Em] Fenian[G]
Men who roamed the[Bm glen in [Am]victory[C] or de[D][B7?]feat. Their[Em] names on[G] history's pages[Bm] told, their [aM]memories[C]
will en[B7]dure, Not a[Em] song was[D] sung of our[C] darling sons, in the[Bm] Valley of[Am] Knocka[Em]nure.
There
was Lyons and Walsh and the Dalton boy, They were young and in their prime. They rambled to a lonely spot where the Black
and Tans did hide. The Republic bold they did uphold, Tho' outlawed on the moor And side by side they fought and died
In the Valley of Knockanure.
It was on a neighbouring hillside We listened in hushed dismay. In every house, in
every town, a young girl knelt to pray. They're closing in around them now, with rifle fire so sure, And Lyons is dead
and young Dalton's down in the Valley of Knockanure.
But e'er [ere??] the guns could seal his fate, young Walsh had
spoken thro' With a prayer to God he spurned the sod, As against the hill he flew The bullets tore his flesh in two,
Yet he cried with voice so sure, "Revenge I'll get for my comrade's death, in the Valley of Knockanure.
The summer
sun is sinking low behind the field and lea. The pale moonlight is shining bright far off beyond Tralee. The dismal
stars and the clouds afar are darkening o'er the moor, And the banshee cried when young Dalton died, In the Valley of Knockanure.
Sheet music and tin whistle notes for The Valley Of Knockanure
Valley Of Knockanure
G A B C B A B A G E A G E D B D E E F E
That's just
the intro, here is the song itself:
D E D E G A B A B D' G' E' D' B A G A BD E D E G A
B A B D' G' E' D' B A G A B G A B C B A B A G E A G E D B D E E F E
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=69524#1179761You know in Ireland every six months, the priest comes around to give advice and confessions to the old
people, you see, in the cottages. And ther's one particular house they come to every time. Well this day they come to Knockanure
in County Kerry and it was in 1922 and there was two wee lads, Eamonn Dalton and Danny Welch was on the run up in the hills
and five lorry loads of Black and Tans came to hunt them. And they had a buy a fourteen year old boy called Con Dee bringing
them messages to tell them how the Tans was behaving and the Tans, fifty Tans, hundred Tans, I should say, surrounded them
with rifles and they told Con Dee to get away somewhere and bring a message to the village that they were willing to die to
save the village. And the two fellows died. But the people, the old people coming, as they do there, they come along, old
women and men and to spare them, the two lads fought to the death with a hundred Black and Tans up on the hill and saved the
village from ruin, because if they ran back to the village, the lads were afraid the Tans would come back and probably kill
innocent people."
