On Raglan Road
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On Raglan Road
"On Raglan Road" is a well-known Irish song from a poem written by Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh named after Raglan Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin.[1] In the poem the poet, walking on a "quiet street", recalls a love affair he had with a young woman. He knew he would risk being hurt if he initiated a relationship, but went ahead anyway.
It was first published as a poem in The Irish Press on 3 October 1946 under the title "Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away."[1] Peter Kavanagh, Patrick's brother, said that "it was written about Patrick's girlfriend Hilda but to avoid embarrassment he used the name of my girlfriend in the title."[1] Her real name was Dr. Hilda Moriarty who later married Donogh O'Malley, the Irish Minister for Health. Her son is the actor Daragh O'Malley.[2]
In 1987, Hilda Moriarty was interviewed by the Irish broadcaster RTÉ for a documentary about Kavanagh called Gentle Tiger.[3] In the interview, she said one of the main reasons for the failure of their relationship was that there was a wide age gap between them. She was only 22, whereas he was 40.
Dr. Moriarty also described how Raglan Road came to be written. Kavanagh had described himself as the peasant poet but she was not impressed and teased him for writing about mundane things such as vegetables. She said he should write about something else so he agreed to do so.
According to Dr. Moriarty, he then went away and wrote Raglan Road.
The poem was put to music when the poet met Luke Kelly of the well-known Irish band The Dubliners in a pub in Dublin called The Bailey.[4] It was set to the music of the traditional song "The Dawning of the Day" (Fáinne Geal an Lae). An Irish-language song with this name (Fáinne Geal an Lae) was published by Edward Walsh (1805-1850) in 1847 in Irish Popular Songs, and later translated into English as The Dawning of the Day, published by Patrick Weston Joyce in 1873.[5]
The song, often known simply as "Raglan Road", has since been sung by the Dubliners, the Young Dubliners, Van Morrison, Sinéad O'Connor, Mark Knopfler, Billy Bragg, Roger Daltrey, Loreena McKennitt, Joan Osborne, Orla Fallon, Tommy Fleming and Nyle Wolfe among others.[6] A version of the song, recorded in 1991 was published in 2011 by the Swedish band Eldkvarn as a bonus track on USB in the box set "Den goda Skörden", Eldvarn 1971 - 2011. The Dutch band Rowwen Heze used this song in 2000 as the basis for their song "November" on their album "Vandaag".
The Luke Kelly version was also featured in a poignant scene in the 2008 film, In Bruges.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Kavanagh, Peter (1980). Sacred Keeper. Kildare: Goldsmith Press. p. 126.
- ^ http://www.irishidentity.com/extras/gaels/stories/hildaomalley.htm
- ^ http://www.rte.ie/laweb/ll/ll_t03i.html
- ^ Geraghty, Des (1994). Luke Kelly: A Memoir. Dublin: Basement Press. pp. 38,39. ISBN 1-85594-090-6.
- ^ Breathnach, Breandán (1971). Folk Music and Dances of Ireland. Cork: Mercier Press. p. 112. ISBN 0-85342-509-4.
- ^ RTE.IE
- ^ [1] Entertainment.ie
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