Peadar Kearney At the conclusion of many Irish functions, the audience, with pride and joy, usually enhance the festive occasion with the singing of the national anthems of the United States and Ireland. With regards to our national anthem, The Star Spangled -Banner, history suggests, a young lawyer, Francis Scott Key, wrote out the phrases to a song on the back of an envelope, while observing the bombardment of Fort Mc Henry in Baltimore harbor during the War of 1812. Later the song was published as “The Defense of Fort Mc Henry and was later retitled “ The Star Spangled- Banner.”
The man who wrote the Irish national anthem held no law degree and was not involved politically, as was Key, however, his contribution to his native land was just as inspiring as his counterpart in America. Peadar Kearney was born on December 12, 1883, in the fair city of Dublin. His father, John Kearney, a County Louthman was a grocer and his mother, Kathleen McGuinness came from County Meath. Following the sudden death of his father on Christmas Day, 1897, circumstances dictated Peadar find employment in order to assist his mother and the home. Three years after he started work he was elevated to the position of apprentice house painter. His contribution to the national scene came in 1901 when he joined the Gaelic League, an organization founded in 1893 “for the purpose of keeping the Irish language spoken in Ireland,” The leagues newspaper was An Claidheamh Soluis (The Sword of Light) and its most noted editor was Patrick Pearse. In 1903 he was sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), and with a friend, Patrick Heaney, they joined the Oliver Bond 1798 Club and it was for the club that they wrote, “The Soldier’s Song,” Heaney composing the music, while Kearney wrote the words. After they completed the work, Kearney indicated he did it to ”impress Irishmen that they did not have to join the British army to be soldiers.”
Peadar Kearney was working in Wicklow at the time he composed the lyrics (1907) and he was teaching Gaelic(Irish) in the evenings. Among his students was author and playwright Sean O Casey. By 1911, Kearney had obtained employment in Dublin in the Abbey Theater, as a prop man. He toured England with the Abbey players in 1916, however, he left the tour to take part in the 1916 Rising in Dublin. Needless to say after the failed Rising, and as a participant, Kearney, like many of his fellow Irishmen was interred in Ballykinlar Military Camp, Co Down. He was released upon the signing of the Treaty in 1921. He served on the Free State side in the Irish Civil War, because of his friendship with Michael Collins. Following the conflict, he returned to work as a house painter.
When the Irish Free State was established in 1922, there was no national anthem, and it was not until 1924 that the issue came up for discussion. It was suggested that Thomas Moore’s ‘Let Erin Remember the Days of Old,” be adapted as the countries national anthem. And in keeping with the ”lively debate syndrome,” the issue was discussed and discussed and discussed. Some of the suggestions for a national anthem included Thomas Davis’ “A Nation Once Again,” and T.D. Sullivan’s “God Save Ireland.” However, when the dust cleared, Peadar Kearney’s “Amhran na bnFiann (The Soldier’s Song) was formally adopted as the national anthem in 1926, replacing “God Save Ireland.”
Included in the fine collection of songs and ballads written by Kearney were popular tunes like, “Down By The Glenside,” (Glory o Glory o to the Bold Fenian Men), “Whack Fol de Diddle,” “The Tri-Colored Ribbon,” “The South Down Militia and “Nell Flaherty’s Drake.” Peadar Kearney’s sister, Kathleen was the mother of Brendan Behan, that soft spoken gentile Irish playwright, who found more solace in a pint of Guinness than any of his great works. One might say Peadar had a busy life. In fifty-nine years he witnessed great changes to his native land, leaving a legacy in verse that lives on today. Peadar Kearney left his native Dublin for Tir na N’og, November 23, 1942 and rests in peace in Glasnevin’s Cemetery, Dublin.