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Young Emmet

[ Roud 32813 ; Paddy Ban O’Brien]

Daoirí Farrell sang Young Emmet on his 2023 album The Wedding Above in Glencree. He noted:

Hosting a session four years ago in The Pipers Corner, I was given this song by fiddle player Kevin Glackin. Written by Paddy Ban O’Brien, the song tells of how Irish Republican Robert Emmet was sentenced to death for his attempt to overthrow the crown and set up an Irish Government.

Lyrics

Daoirí Farrell sings Young Emmet

In Green Street Courthouse in eighteen and three
Stood young Emmet the hero true and brave
For fighting the tyrant his country to free
And tear from her brow the bonds of slavery

Chorus (after each verse):
There are still men in Ireland who are loyal and true
Who remember their patriots with pride
And with God’s help young Emmet we’ll soon give to you
The epitaph unwritten since you died

Well alone and defiant he stood in the dock
While Lord Norbury the hanging judge looked down
All against his false charges as firm as a rock
O another Irish martyr to the crown

O the verdict was guilty the sentence was death
And in Thomas Street the tyrant’s work was done
O but young Emmet smiled as he drew on his last breath
For he knew the fight for freedom would be won