Ireland's Call

From the Partition of Ireland until the 1930s, no flag or anthem was used at Ireland rugby internationals. After objections from clubs in the then Irish Free State, a compromise was agreed to use an IRFU flag, with "Amhrán na bhFiann" at matches in the Free State, "God Save the King" at those in Northern Ireland, and no anthem at away matches.{{cite book |editor-last=Maguire |editor-first=Joseph |last=Cronin |first=Mike |title=Power and Global Sport: Zones of Prestige, Emulation and Resistance |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhqCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 |access-date=22 November 2017 |date=7 May 2007 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134527274 |pages=122–124 |chapter=Rugby globalisation and Irish identity}}{{cite book|editor-last1=Dolan|editor-first1=Paddy|editor-last2=Connolly|editor-first2=John|title=Sport and National Identities: Globalization and Conflict |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WA1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT96 |access-date=22 November 2017 |date=13 September 2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781315519111 |page=96 |chapter=Partition in Irish sport during the 1950s |first=Cormac|last=Moore}}Lenihan 2016 p.82 Ulster unionist players are not expected to sing "Amhrán na bhFiann".Lenihan 2016 p.70 There were no senior internationals played in Northern Ireland from 1954 to 2007. Des Fitzgerald declined to play a 1982 B international in Belfast as "God Save the Queen" would be played.Lenihan 2016 p.72 Before a 1954 Five Nations match in Ravenhill, Belfast, players from the Republic refused to take the field until after "God Save the Queen" had finished. Cahir Healy negotiated a compromise whereby the Royal Salute was played instead of the full anthem, and promised that future internationals would be played in Dublin. The incident was hushed up. Playing all matches at Lansdowne Road suited the IRFU in any case, since gate receipts would be larger than at Ravenhill.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/feb/27/comment.gdnsport3|title=How Ravenhill rebels made an issue out of an anthem|last=Keating|first=Frank|date=27 February 2007|work=TheGuardian.com|access-date=26 February 2018}}{{cite book |last1=Rigby |first1=Vic |last2=O'Callaghan |first2=Liam |editor1-last=Ní Fhuartháin |editor1-first=Méabh |editor2-last=Doyle |editor2-first=David M. |title=Ordinary Irish Life: Music, Sport and Culture |date=2013 |publisher=Irish Academic Press |isbn=9780716531548 |pages=98–113 |language=en |chapter=The Riddle of Ravenhill: The 1954 Irish Rugby International in Belfast}}

Unionist opposition to "Amhrán na bhFiann" was strengthened on 25 April 1987, when an IRA roadside bomb killed judge Maurice Gibson and his wife, and also damaged a car carrying three of the senior squad from Belfast to Dublin for training. David Irwin and Philip Rainey recovered but Nigel Carr's rugby career was ended by his injuries.Lenihan 2016 pp.82–84 The next month, at the inaugural Rugby World Cup, captain Donal Lenihan objected that all other teams would have an anthem. At the last minute before the side's opening match in Athletic Park, Wellington, a James Last cassette recording of "The Rose of Tralee" was borrowed from Phil Orr; the music and poor recording quality attracted much criticism and no anthem was played for later matches.Lenihan 2016 pp.82–86; {{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/its-a-different-world-since-it-all-began-in-1987-26767940.html|title=It's a different world since it all began in 1987|last=Glennon|first=Jim|date=4 September 2011|work=Sunday Independent|access-date=21 November 2017}} At the 1991 World Cup, there was no anthem away to Scotland, Ireland's only game outside Dublin.Lenihan 2016 p.86

For the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, the IRFU decided to commission a song from Phil Coulter.{{cite book|last=Rouse|first=Paul|title=Sport and Ireland: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=632ECgAAQBAJ&pg=PT360|access-date=21 November 2017|date=2015-10-08|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191063039|page=360}} His composition, "Ireland's Call", has since been played alongside "Amhrán na bhFiann" at matches within the Republic, and on its own elsewhere.{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rugby/should-the-irish-players-be-singing-amhran-na-bhfiann-at-the-world-cup-in-new-zealand-169995.html|title=Should the Irish players be singing Amhrán na bhFiann at the World Cup in New Zealand?|date=8 October 2011|work=Irish Examiner|access-date=21 November 2017}} Ireland's match against England at Croke Park in the 2007 Six Nations Championship was of historic significance because of the Rule 42 ban and the memory of Bloody Sunday 1920; The Irish Times commented, '"Amhrán na bhFiann" and "Ireland's Call" were belted out with such hair-raising intensity that men and women were crying as they sang'.{{Cite news

|publisher=The Irish Times

|title=Hair-raising cry of anthems fills Croker with pride and joy

|date=26 February 2007

|access-date=26 May 2008

|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2007/0226/1172185106645.html

}} Prior to the 2007 resumption of internationals at Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast, the IRFU decided that only "Ireland's Call" would be played, not "God Save the Queen", prompting complaints from some unionists that this did not match the playing of "Amhrán na bhFiann" in Dublin.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/22/northernireland.rugbyunion|title=Row over anthem as Irish rugby prepares for match in Belfast|last=Bowcott|first=Owen|date=22 August 2006|work=TheGuardian.com|access-date=8 February 2018}}{{cite news|url=http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/rugby-international-sparks-anthem-row-at-ravenhill-1-1891535|title=Rugby international sparks anthem row at Ravenhill|date=13 November 2009|work=The News Letter|access-date=22 November 2017|location=Belfast}}

Other all-island teams have adopted "Ireland's Call" for similar reasons to the IRFU's. The men's and women's hockey teams, having previously used the "Londonderry Air", adopted "Ireland's Call" in 2000,{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ireland-s-call-standing-tall-for-20-years-1.2085759|title=Ireland's Call: standing tall for 20 years|last=Clerkin|first=Malachy|date=31 January 2015|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=6 December 2017}} including for Olympic qualification matches,{{cite news |last1=Noonan |first1=Rory |title=Ireland hockey take have the Harte to see off Canada in Olympic qualifier |url=https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/Ireland-hockey-take-have-the-Harte-to-see-off-Canada-in-Olympic-qualifier-01aa1649-e3a4-4bb6-83f3-bebc7145df74-ds |access-date=4 November 2019 |work=Echo Live |date=27 October 2019 |quote=Ireland players, from left, Eugene Magee, Jeremy Duncan, Stuart Loughrey, Conor Harte and Jonathan Bell sing 'Ireland's Call'.}}; {{cite web |last1=Glennon |first1=Micil |title=Recap: Ireland and Canada stalemate in downpour |url=https://www.rte.ie/sport/hockey/2019/1102/1088250-ireland-v-canada-updates/ |publisher=RTÉ |access-date=4 November 2019 |language=en |date=2 November 2019 |quote=The sides stand for the anthems, first up, O Canada. ... And Ireland's Call.}} but the Olympic Council of Ireland standard "Amhrán na bhFiann" was used at Rio 2016, its first post-independence appearance at the Olympics.{{cite web|url=https://www.sportsjoe.ie/world-of-sport/video-serious-confusion-over-irelands-national-anthem-for-rio-hockey-opener-90024|title=Serious confusion over Ireland's national anthem for Rio hockey opener|last=Doherty|first=Conan|date=6 August 2016|work=SportsJOE.ie|access-date=7 February 2018}} At the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, the Ireland team had "Amhrán na bhFiann" at a match in England,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/world_cup_2000/1019664.stm|title=Lighting the blue touchpaper |quote= ... the two teams lined up opposite one another in readiness for the national anthems. The Irish players, including the Aussie contingent, belted out The Soldier's Song.|date=12 November 2000|work=BBC Online|access-date=9 February 2018}} but no anthem at a match in Belfast. In the years before 2008 it "used neutral symbols and anthems such as 'Ireland's Call'".{{cite news|url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/irish-rugby-league-team-runs-into-anthem-row-1-1877387|title=Irish rugby league team runs into anthem row |date=31 October 2008|work=The News Letter|access-date=8 February 2018|location=Belfast}} Rugby League Ireland adopted "Amhrán na bhFiann" for the 2008 World Cup, explaining "'The Soldier's Song' has always been played at amateur level and it was a unanimous decision to extend this policy to the professional game."{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/irish-rebuff-anthem-calls-26488407.html|title=Irish rebuff anthem calls|last=Farrelly|first=Hugh|date=30 October 2008|work=Irish Independent|access-date=8 February 2018}} By the 2017 World Cup it had reverted to "Ireland's Call". The Irish Waterski and Wakeboard Federation adopted "Ireland's Call" on a one-off basis for the 2016 EA Wakeboard Championships, because they were in Coleraine in "very close proximity to a Loyalist Estate".{{cite web |url=http://www.irishwwf.ie/userfiles/AGM%20minutes%202016.docx |publisher=Irish Waterski and Wakeboard Federation |title=2016 AGM minutes |date=21 February 2016 |page=14. Proposals for consideration |no-pp=y}} The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland's policy document states that it 'is a 32 county body and as such the anthem will be "Ireland's Call" except in circumstances where this may cause discomfort or embarrassment. On such occasions the only permitted deviation allowed is "Amhrán na bhFiann".'{{cite web|url=http://www.ncffi.ie/new/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/NCFFI-Protocol-2016.pdf#page=2|title=Protocols & Policies 2016|date=23 January 2016|publisher=National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland|page=2|access-date=8 February 2018}}

The song was written by Phil Coulter in 1995. He said he composed it because he loved hearing a combination of Irish accents singing together.{{cite news

|publisher=BBC

|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/learning_centre/newsid_2369000/2369769.stm

|title=Ireland's Call

|access-date=26 May 2008

| date=29 October 2002}} It was first broadcast simultaneously on the Kelly show in Northern Ireland and The Late Late Show in the Republic, sung by Andrew Strong accompanied by the Portadown Male Voice Choir.

At most games today, only the first verse is sung, followed by the chorus in the same key. The chorus is then repeated in a higher key; at the end, the last line is repeated. Several Irish-language translations have been made for Gaelscoil pupils, with the title {{lang|ga|"Glaoch na hÉireann"}}.

{{cite web|url=http://www.osrai.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Glaoch-na-h%C3%89ireann.doc|title=Glaoch na h-Eireann|date=February 2013|publisher=Gaelscoil Osraí|language=Irish|access-date=8 February 2018|location=Kilkenny}};

{{cite web|url=http://www.gaelscoiluiriordain.ie/1645-2/ |language=Irish |date=15 February 2016 |title=Glaoch na hÉireann |publisher=Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin |access-date=8 February 2018|location=Westport, County Mayo}}

Coulter subsequently rewrote the lyrics to be sung in the Celtic Thunder singing tour, when he collaborated with Sharon Browne, the original producer of Celtic Woman. The rewritten lyrics have a somewhat more martial theme, with lines like "meet our destiny with glory" and "Till our final requiem is spoken".{{cite book|title=Celtic Thunder (Songbook): The Music|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYzDAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT47|access-date=30 November 2017|date=2008-10-01|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=9781458449702|chapter=Ireland's Call}}{{cite web|url=http://cms.celticthunder.ie/lyrics#irelandscall|title=Lyrics - Celtic Thunder|work=celticthunder.ie|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002015452/http://cms.celticthunder.ie/lyrics#irelandscall|archive-date=2011-10-02}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Lenihan |first=Donal |title=Donal Lenihan: My Life in Rugby |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KiaDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT82 |access-date=7 December 2017|date=2016-09-22|publisher=Transworld|isbn=9781473540019 }}

• [http://www.rte.ie/radio1/the-john-murray-show/programmes/2015/0226/682968-the-john-murray-show-thursday-26-february-2015/ "20 Years of Irelands Call"], from The John Murray Show, RTÉ Radio One, 26 February 2015
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20151007185453/http://www.lequipe.fr/explore-video/rugby-l-appel-de-l-irlande/ "L'Appel de l'Irlande"], 2015 documentary in French and English from L'Équipe

{{Ireland national rugby union team}}

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Category:Ireland national rugby union team songs

Category:Irish patriotic songs

Category:1995 songs

Category:Songs written by Phil Coulter

Category:Sporting songs