Follow Me up to Carlow (original) (raw)

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Folk song from Ireland commemorating a military victory over English troops

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"Follow Me Up to Carlow" is an Irish folk song celebrating the defeat of an army of 3,000 English soldiers by Fiach Mac Aodh Ó Broin (anglicised Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne) at the Battle of Glenmalure, during the Second Desmond Rebellion in 1580.

The air is reputed to have been played as a marching tune by the pipers of Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne in 1580.[1]

The words were written by Patrick Joseph McCall (1861–1919) and appear in his Songs of Erinn (1899) under the title "Marching Song of Feagh MacHugh".[2]

Characters mentioned

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• Brian Mac Cahir Óg Kavanagh, Fiach's brother-in-law (as "MacCahir Óg")[3]
• Queen Elizabeth I of England ("Queen Liza")
• William FitzWilliam, Lord Deputy of Ireland
• Baron Arthur Grey
• Fiach McHugh O'Byrne
• Sir Pierce (or Piers) Fitzgerald, High Sheriff of Kildare (as "Lord Kildare")[4]
• Rory Óg O'More

The song performed by Christoph Nolte.

It has been performed by numerous Irish folk bands, including Planxty and Wolfe Tones

• O'Donnell Abu

1. ^ "Follow Me up to Carlow", Irish Music Daily
2. ^ Patrick Joseph McCall, Songs of Erinn (London and Dublin, 1899), 22-23.(external link to source)
3. ^ "Follow Me Up to Carlow – story and characters". Irish Music Daily. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
4. ^ "Follow Me Up to Carlow – story and characters". Irish Music Daily. Retrieved 14 January 2024.

• Sheet music Archived 7 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• "Follow Me up to Carlow" - Planxty