Kinvara Branch of Cumann na mBan had eight members, including:
Miss Kate Fogarty
Mary Hynes, Dungora, Kinvara
Miss Aggie Staunton, Clooas, (sic.) Kinvara
Miss Mary Fogarty, Kinvara
Miss P. Regan, Kinvara
Margaret Johnston, Kinvara
The Soldiers of Cumann na mBan
by Brian O’Higgins
All honour to Óglaigh na hÉireann
All praise to the men of our race,
Who, in days of betrayal and slavery,
Saved Eire from shame and disgrace.
But do not forget in your praising,
Of them and the deeds they have done,
Their loyal and true-hearted comrades,
The Soldiers of Cumann na mBan!
Chorus
They stand for the honour of Ireland,
As their sisters in days that are gone,
And they’ll march with their brothers to freedom,
The Soldiers of Cumann na mBan.
No great-hearted daughter of Ireland,
Who died for her sake long ago,
Who stood in the gap of her danger,
Defying the Sassenach foe,
Was ever more gallant or worthy,
Of glory in high sounding rann,
Than the comrades of Óglaigh na hÉireann
The Soldiers of cumman na mBan!
Chorus
O, high beat the hearts of our Mother,
The day she had longed for is nigh,
When the sunlight of joy and of freedom,
Shall glow in the eastern sky;
And none shall be honoured more proudly,
That morning by chieftain and clan,
Than the daughters who served in her danger,
The Soldiers of Cumann na mBan!
Chorus
Brian O’Higgins (1882-1963) penned the lyrics of
The Soldiers of Cumann na mBan in the week immediately prior the 1916 Rising
This song has been arranged and recorded by Joseph Forde.
