‘Rise and follow Charlie’: rebel songs and establishment politicians in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1998

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe relationship between music and national identity is well-established in Ireland as elsewhere. Ritualistic parades, rousing communal renditions and national anthems all contribute to the construction of national communities in music. However, existing scholarship has not explored the ways in which nationalist musical culture characterised mainstream, establishment political movements in the Republic of Ireland. As such, the assertions of certain performers that it became socially and politically unacceptable to perform rebel songs have gone unchallenged. Rebel songs topped the Irish charts and mainstream political groups employed rebel songs in their campaigns. This article considers the enthusiasm of even the most established political parties for radical nationalist ideals through an examination of rebel song tradition. It employs contemporary newspapers, song books, recordings and the records of political parties. In doing so, it argues that rebel songs expressed the ideological pretensions of a range of political movements and identities significantly divergent from dissident republicanism.