Peadar Kearney

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The gravestone of Thomas Ashe, Peadar Kearney and Piaras Beaslai at Glasnevin Cemetery.

Peadar Kearney (Irish: Peadar Ó Cearnaígh; 12 December 1883 – 23 November 1942) was an Irish Republican and composer of numerous rebel songs. In 1907 he wrote the lyrics to The Soldier's Song (Amhrán na bhFiann), now the Irish national anthem.

Kearney was born at 68 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin in 1883. He joined the Gaelic League in 1901, and the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1903. He was a founder member of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. In the Easter Rising of 1916 Kearney fought at Jacob’s biscuit factory under Thomas MacDonagh. He escaped before the garrison was taken into custody. He was active in the War of Independence and was interned in Ballykinler Camp in County Down in 1920. A personal friend of Michael Collins, Kearney took the Free State side in the Civil War. After the establishment of the Free State, however, he took no further part in politics. He died in relative poverty in 1942, and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. Kearney also witnessed the death of IRA (Irish Republican Army) leader, Michael Collins at Beal nBaith on 16th August 1922. He was travelling in the front veichle going to Cork.

Kearney's songs were highly popular with the Volunteers (which later became the IRA) in the 1913-22 period. Most popular of all was The Soldier's Song. In 1926, four years after the formation of the Free State, the Irish translation, Amhrán na bhFiann, was adopted as the National anthem. Kearney never received any royalties for the song.

Other well known songs by Kearney include Down by the Glenside (The Bold Fenian Men), The Three-coloured Ribbon, Down by the Liffey Side and Erin Go Bragh (Erin Go Bragh was the text on the Irish national flag before the adoption of the tricolour).

Kearney's sister Kathleen was the mother of Irish writers Brendan Behan and Dominic Behan, both of whom were also republicans and songwriters.

There is a plaque on the wall on the west side of Dorset Street commemorating his birth there.