Tone's Grave, often referred to as Bodenstown churchyard, was written by Thomas Davis (1814-1845), the Young Ireland leader, and published first in their newspaper "The Nation". It was written following his visit to the grave of Wolfe Tone in Bodenstown, co. Kildare c. 1843 when he found Tone's grave unmarked but guarded by a local blacksmith who would allow nobody to set foot on it.
The song mourns the failure of the United Irishmen and the loss of leaders like Wolfe Tone but hints at the impending awakening of Irish nationalism much hoped for by the Young Ireland movement.
Read more about Tone's Grave: Lyrics
Famous quotes containing the words tone and/or grave:
“Our medieval historians who prefer to rely as much as possible on official documents because the chronicles are unreliable, fall thereby into an occasionally dangerous error. The documents tell us little about the difference in tone which separates us from those times; they let us forget the fervent pathos of medieval life.”
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“A woman would rather visit her own grave than the place where she has been young and beautiful after she is aged and ugly.”
—Corra May Harris (1869–1935)