"True to Eire" - the song

‘True to Eire’   was kindly written by long friend, broadcaster and musician Kevin Ikin. He is well known in New Zealand folk circles and has recorded many CD's over the years. His friends Pat Higgins and Kevin McLouglin joined in recording this beautiful tribute to the author's father, Matthias Burke.

Song lyrics by K. Ikin
tune "Rights of Man" traditional

 

Born in County Galway in 19 hundred and nine
Matthias Burke grew up in the troubled times
He witnessed the atrocities of the Black and Tans
The torture and the killings at their bloody hands.

 

This Son of Eire was not afraid of work
And his love for his homeland he would never shirk
But when he sailed to New Zealand to seek a peaceful life
Little did he know he was heading for some strife.

CHORUS

They could hound him from the country
And a banning order sign
They could threaten retribution if he didn’t tow the line
But when it came to the push a single thing was clear
He’d be true to Ireland, true to Eire.

 

In 1941 the Government made the call
It said the King and Empire needed them all
To gather up their guns and march forth to the fray
To keep Adolf Hitler and the fascist hordes at bay

 

But the Sons of Eire, they  made their stand
They would not sign up or join the band
Enlist to fight in a British uniform
They remembered the terror that Ireland had borne.

 

CHORUS

So Matthias Burke and the Sons of Eire
Were brought before the army board and ordered to declare
Why they should escape the fate of those whose blood was spent
Who answered the call to arms and went where they were sent.

 

In the end,  their conscience and their cause won the day
Fraser and the Government  said that they could stay
They would not be deported or forced to join the fight
In the cause of the power that inflicted Ireland’s plight.