In the Irish folksong "Oro Se Do Bheatha Bhaile" there's a lyric that says "Only Gaels are them, not French and Spanish" in reference to warriors coming to Ireland. Why wouldn't the Irish like France and Spain seeing as they were often enemies of Britain? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

In the Irish folksong "Oro Se Do Bheatha Bhaile" there's a lyric that says "Only Gaels are them, not French and Spanish" in reference to warriors coming to Ireland. Why wouldn't the Irish like France and Spain seeing as they were often enemies of Britain?

by Thefireisrishing

Here's the song in reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sje2VYw99A

I miswrote the title, in context the warriors are coming to aid the Irish, not to invade.

IIRC didn't the Irish harbor some of the marooned Spanish sailors from the failed Spanish invasion of England?

datarancher

There are several versions of this song--and French & Spanish have different roles in each!

In the Jacobite version here (18th c.), the line you're thinking of is something like "They'll be with him, Frenchmen and Spaniards." The (Catholic) French and Spanish supported the Jacobite 'Bonnie' Prince Charles against Protestants in the House of Hanover. Part of this support came in the form of Irish and Scottish troops that were in French service.

In 1914, Pádraig Pearse reworked the words and lyrics as a rebel song. To bolster its nationalist sentiment, the Scottish Prince Charles was replaced by the Irish Gráinne Mhaol (Grace O'Mally), and the line about joining with the Spanish and French was replaced with "They're Irish--Not French or Spanish" to emphasize the desire for an independent Irish republic.

Finally, some people (mis)translate "Ag fógairt fáin ar Ghalla" as "They will rout the French", though Ghalla is actually 'foreigners' and not 'Gauls'.