Follow me up to Carlowlyrics by Patrick Joseph McCall (1861-1919)
Lift MacCahir Og your faceBrooding o'er the old disgraceThat black FitzWilliam stormed your place,Drove you to the FernGrey said victory was sureSoon the firebrand he'd secure;Until he met at GlenmalureWith Feach MacHugh O'Byrne.Curse and swear Lord Kildare,Feach will do what Feach will dareNow FitzWilliam, have a careFallen is your star, low.Up with halberd out with swordOn we'll go for by the lordFeach MacHugh has given the word,Follow me up to Carlow.See the swords of Glen Imayle,Flashing o'er the English paleSee all the children of the Gael,Beneath O'Byrne's bannersRooster of the fighting stock,Would you let a Saxon cockCrow out upon an Irish rock,Fly up and teach him manners.From Tassagart to Clonmore,There flows a stream of Saxon goreOh, great is Rory Oge O'More,At sending loons to Hades.White is sick and Lane is fled,Now for black FitzWilliam's headWe'll send it over, dripping red,To Liza and her ladies.
Notes: Glenmalure is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains, south of Dublin. In 1580 Feach MacHugh O'Byrne fought and won against the English army, who were lead by Lord Grey de Wilton. It was a turning-point event, and part of a wider revolt that was initiated by the Fitzgeralds. The revolt ended in failure, but Grey's defeat was a significant victory. O'Byre's stronghold was at the eastern end of the glen and there are some ruins of it remaining on Ballincor Mountain in Wicklow.
