De Valera
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I remember the day De Valera he died
My father he just broke down and he cried
He wept like a baby for Dev was his pride
But it held me no fears and I shed no tears
For this man of our times
They say Dev was a hero at Easter ‘16
He held Boland’s Mill for the orange and green
He was sentenced to die with Pearse and McBride
But his birth far away let him fight another day
Lucky man of our times
Chorus:
He was loved he was hated he was cherished despised
There were rivers of tears when the chieftain he died
But love him or hate him I cannot decide
What to make of old Dev this man of our times
When I was at school Christian brothers were cruel
We lived off the land to be scarce was the rule
And we fled in our droves to the Emigrants boat
We weren't free yet and we questioned respect
For this man of our times
My parents were poor and the cupboard was bare
You can't feed a child on a dream or a prayer
But the boys in Dail Eireann got rich as we pined
They were led by the chief and we had no relief
From this man of our times
Repeat Chorus:
Now Spain had its Franco and France its Degaulle
We had our Dev and God rest his soul
But history will judge on the man from Bruree
De Valera's lost dream our Nation unfree
It’s the shame of our times
I remember the day De Valera he died
My father he just broke down and he cried
He wept like a baby for Dev was his pride
But it held me no fears and I shed no tears
For this man of our times
About 'De Valera'
I've had a lifelong fascination with this man. Undoubtedly the singly most influential, controversial and involved political figure in modern Irish history. My Grandfather adored him with the blind love so typical of Dev's disciples. Was Dev perfect? NO. Was he all bad? NO. Will he remain both a beloved and a hated figure ad infinitum? Probably. I think that some of the judgements passed on the 'Chief' have been somewhat harsh and he's often fallen victim to that annoying habit which bedevils too many of our prominent historians, that of judging people and their actions without fully looking at the context and times in which they occurred. A case in point would perhaps be when last year, one of our lesser known commentators on Irish history depicted the heroe's of 1916 as latter day 'Suicide Bombers'. An utterly facile and ludicrous deduction to arrive at and in total ignorance of how things such as patriotism, gallantry and religious affiliations affected the actions of men in that era. But as with so many historical giants, one mans meat is another mans poison!
'He was loved he was hated he was cherished despised, there were rivers
of tears when the chieftain he died,
but love him or hate him I cannot decide, what to make of old Dev, this
man of our times.'
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