C G C
Ten years before I saw the light of morning
F
A comradeship of heroes was laid
G
From every corner of the world came sailing
G7 C
The Fifteenth International Brigade.
They came to stand beside the Spanish people/To try and stem the rising fascist tide
Franco's allies were the powerful and wealthy/Frank Ryan's men came from the other side.
Even the olives were bleeding/As the battle for Madrid it thundered on
Truth and love against the force of evil/Brotherhood against the fascist clan.
Chorus
F
Viva la Quinta Brigada
G C
'No Pasaran', the pledge that made them fight
a e a
'Adelante' is the cry around the hillside
F G C (a)
Let us (all) remember them tonight.
Bob Hilliard was a Church of Ireland pastor/Form Killarney across the Pyrenees he came
From Derry came a brave young Christian Brother/Side by side they fought and died in Spain.
Tommy Woods age seventeen died in Cordoba/With Na Fianna he learned to hold his gun
From Dublin to the Villa del Rio/Where he fought and died beneath the blazing sun.
Chorus
Many Irishmen heard the call of Franco/Joined Hitler and Mussolini too
Propaganda from the pulpit and newspapers/Helped O'Duffy to enlist his crew.
The word came from Maynooth, 'support the Nazis'/The men of cloth failed again
When the Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Dun Laoghaire/As they sailed beneath the swastika to Spain.
Chorus
This song is a tribute to Frank Ryan/Kit Conway and Dinny Coady too
Peter Daly, Charlie Regan and Hugh Bonar/Though many died I can but name a few.
Danny Boyle, Blaser-Brown and Charlie Donnelly/Liam Tumilson and Jim Straney from the Falls
Jack Nalty, Tommy Patton and Frank Conroy/Jim Foley, Tony Fox and Dick O'Neill.
Chorus