Every Irish county has a theme song, of sorts, but not all the songs qualify as anthems. Secure in the latter category, for example, is Cork (with the “Banks”), Galway (with the “Bay”, or increasingly the “Girl”), and Tipperary (with “Slievenamon”).
Donegal, perhaps Ireland's most romanticised county, has several viable candidates. Down has at least two. Even Leitrim, traditionally deprived in many ways, has an obvious and well-known anthem, thanks to alliteration and Larry Cunningham.
Counties that are not themselves eulogised in ballad often have the fall-back of a famous and locally set love-song, extolling some beauty, usually female.
More often than not, her name is “Rose”. Hence the Roses of Tralee, Mooncoin, Castlerea, and of course the Lovely Rose of Clare, in all of which the song’s subject can also serve as a symbol of the place.
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But my native Monaghan is one of the benighted counties that has somehow never produced an anthem, even of the Rose variety. Yes, there are Monaghan songs – several. None, however, is an instantly recognisable musical celebration of the county that could be played after, say, an All-Ireland Final win.
This is the time of year, traditionally, when we worry about such contingencies. So a group of determined people, and one in particular, has decided that something finally needs to be done about this problem. Hence the Song for Monaghan contest, which is offering a handsome €10,000 to any composer who can fill the gap.
The prime mover in this initiative is Liz McGuinness, local business woman and human whirlwind, who is also responsible for the website Mad About Monaghan. As she explains on the latter, what she is seeking is a “good, solid song that can be sung in Croke Park, Oriel Park […] weddings, funerals, shindigs, parties . . . anywhere we gather.”
You don’t have to be a native to write it. On the contrary, the search has been thrown open to the country and the world. Not even Cavan people are disqualified. And surely, after two years of Covid curfews, there must be many good songwriters who could use 10 grand.
An irony of Monaghan's anthemless state, by the way, is that the county has produced what was recently voted Ireland's favourite ballad. You could argue that Raglan Road is in fact a Monaghan anthem, not just because the lyrics were written by the county's greatest poet, but because it celebrates a part of Dublin Patrick Kavanagh in effect colonised.
He famously patrolled the area between Raglan Road and Grafton Street as if it were Inniskeen. Or as Benedict Kiely once said of Baggot Street, that had "everything Paddy needed to make him think he was walking up and down the main street of Carrickmacross on a market day".
Unfortunately, the only reference to Monaghan in Raglan Road is the “hay” he is no longer making. And that’s a bit oblique for an anthem. In any case, Dubliners have already claimed the song as their own.
Speaking of Dubliners. Paddy Reilly recorded an album some years ago featuring a ballad from each of Ireland's 32 counties. Many of his choices were obvious, including: "The Curragh of Kildare" and "Limerick You're a Lady". Others were less so, eg "Moonlight in Mayo" or, representing Meath, "The Harp that Once".
But in the case of Monaghan, he was reduced to “The Town of Ballybay”, which illustrates our problem well.
Popularised by Tommy Makem, that ballad fits broadly into the "Rose" category, in that it celebrates a remarkable female, albeit unnamed. And it begins cheerfully, in jaunty reel-time: "In the town of Ballybay, there was a lassie dwellin'/I knew her very well and her story's worth a-tellin'."
Alas, the story then quickly turns dark, as the heroine is gradually revealed to be a severe alcoholic, with a wooden leg, extremely low morals, and a history of violence against her husband. These would all be excellent themes in a Blues song, less so in a ballad to be used at weddings.
The woman’s only redeeming feature is that, her prosthetic leg being “hollow down the middle”, she is sometimes known to tie a string to it “and play it like a fiddle”. This at least suggests resourcefulness in the face of adversity, a quality in which Monaghan does indeed pride itself. But an anthem the ballad is not.
Anyway, it is hoped that the county's deficit will soon be redressed. The Song for Monaghan Contest was originally scheduled for St Patrick's weekend. But given the many competing attractions around then, it has now been moved to May 1st. The deadline for entries has accordingly been extended to the end of February. Competition rules and other details are at madaboutmonaghan.ie