In Popular Culture
An account of his career, "Who Fears 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,
- Come tender-hearted Christians all, now listen unto me,
- Till I relate these verses great, these verses two and three,
- Concerning of a clever youth was cut off in his bloom,
- And died upon a gallows tree, near to the bridge of Toome.
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.
Read more about this topic: Roddy McCorley
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