Roddy McCorley (Irish: Rodaí Mac Corlaí[1]) (died 28 February 1800) was a United Irishman and a participant in the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
Contents |
McCorley, the son of a miller, participated in the rebellion in Duneane, County Antrim. Some sources indicate that Roddy was a young Roman Catholic Defender, while others claim that he was a United Irishman of the Presbyterian faith. He and his family had been evicted from their farm before the rebellion owing to the execution of his father for stealing sheep, a charge thought to have been politically motivated. After the rebellion, Roddy went into hiding for almost a year, joining a company of soldiers who had deserted to the Irish cause, who were excluded from the terms of "surrender and protection" for fugitives. This company was called the "Archer gang" by their enemies. During an attempt to flee to the United States, McCorley was betrayed, captured by British soldiers and court-martialed in Ballymena. The trial and subsequent execution, where he is named "Roger MacCorley", is given in a contemporary issue of the The Belfast News-Letter issued in March, 1800.
He was executed on 28 February 1800 in the town of Toomebridge "near the bridge of Toome" which had been partially destroyed by rebels in 1798 to prevent the arrival of reinforcements from west of the River Bann.
A letter published in the Belfast Newsletter.[2] describes how he was executed at Toome Bridge. “His body was then given up to dissection and afterwards buried under the gallows.”
The letter then goes on to say: “it is proper to observe that the whole part of his life was devoted to disorderly proceedings of every kind”.
McCorley's body remained under the bridge, which formed part of the Belfast–Derry road, until the mid-19th century, when he was exhumed by a nephew working on road development and given a proper burial in an unmarked grave in Duneane churchyard.
His great-grandson, Roger McCorley, was an officer in the Irish Republican Army in the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921[3].
Robert Gogan [4] points out that the melody for Roddy McCorley was later used in the song, Sean South from Garryowen, which tells the story of the failed IRA attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary Barracks in Count Fermanagh in 1957.
An account of his career, "Who Dares to Speak of '98?'" was written by the Belfast antiquary Francis Joseph Bigger. It contains an edited version of an early 19th century ballad about Roddy McCorley's fate. It begins,
The well-known ballad about him, "Roddy McCorley", was written at the time of the 1898 commemorations for the 1798 Rebellion by Anna Johnston who used the pen name Ethna Carbery (1866–1902). It was repopularised by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Dubliners, The Kingston Trio, and others during the folk music revival of the 1960s, and recorded in 1995 by Shane MacGowan and The Popes for their album The Snake. Heather Dale recorded a version for her 2006 album The Hidden Path.
Oh, see the fleet-foot hosts of men who speed with faces wan
From farmstead and from thresher's cot along the banks of Ban
They come with vengeance in their eyes; too late, too late are they
For young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
Oh Ireland, Mother Ireland, you love them still the best
The fearless brave who fighting fall upon your hapless breast,
But never a one of all your dead more bravely fell in fray,
Than he who marches to his fate on the bridge of Toome today.
Up the narrow street he stepped, so smiling, proud and young.
About the hemp-rope on his neck, the golden ringlets clung;
There's ne'er a tear in his blue eyes, fearless and brave are they,
As young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
When last this narrow street he trod, his shining pike in hand
Behind him marched, in grim array, a earnest stalwart band.
To Antrim town! To Antrim town, he led them to the fray,
But young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
The grey coat and its sash of green were brave and stainless then,
A banner flashed beneath the sun over the marching men;
The coat hath many a rent this noon, the sash is torn away,
And Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
Oh, how his pike flashed in the sun! Then found a foeman's heart,
Through furious fight, and heavy odds he bore a true man's part
And many a red-coat bit the dust before his keen pike-play,
But Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
There's never a one of all your dead more bravely died in fray
Than he who marches to his fate in Toomebridge town today;
True to the last! True to the last, he treads the upwards way,
And young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.