The WW1 Christmas Day Truce

At Christmas 2002, I published a story in ‘Ireland’s Eye’ magazine, about a song written by an Irish writer, about the truce that happened between Allie and German soldiers during the early days of WW1.    

This Christmas song is still doing the rounds of the airwaves, and in the intervening years since 2002 it has been recorded to great acclaim by Daniel O’Donnell and Tommy Fleming.    

In the 1970’s, the writer of the song, Cormac McConnell wrote about ‘The Christmas Man’ which also features on theirishsod.com  Many things have changed from when I originally wrote the story, including the death of Cormac’s brother Sean.

 

Honoured in Song: Christmas Day Truce 1915

Writer and broadaster Cormac McConnell is the author of a lovely Christmas song that is currently filtering through the airwaves.  The lovely ballad tells the tale of a long-forgotten WW1 Christmas Day incident.

This Christmas a song which has been getting as much airplay as last year’s Robbie Williams/Nicole Kidman No. 1 hit, ‘Something Stupid’, is a lovely ballad entitled ‘Silent Night 1915’, which depicts the story of Germany and the Allies calling a truce and socialising together.
Cormac, who is the brother of Irish Times Agricultural Correspondent, Sean McConnell and Mickey McConnell, who wrote the classic rebel song ‘Only Our Rivers Run Free’, is well-known in the world of music and journalism. 
He fell into the story of the incident of Christmas Day 1915 while watching a television documentary one night a number of years ago.  It was reported that one of the young German soldiers sung ‘Silent Night’ on that Christmas Day.
“They all hugged each other, exchanged gifts and played a game of soccer,” said Cormac, about the historic occasion.
Cormac today lectures in communications at NUI Galway and holds down a five times weekly show on Clare FM.
The journalist was inspired to write a song about the unique WW1 event, and the ballad is now showing all the signs of becoming an Irish classic. 
“There is no footage of it, but on the night of the documentary it touched me and my life went in a flash, and I wrote it immediately,” recalled Cormac.  “I remember walking around the room writing it.”
He proudly said that when he first sang the number to an audience in a music pub, - “there were tears in their eyes,”.
Cormac wasn’t confident enough to record the song himself, but gave it to the fine tenor, Jerry Lynch, who gives great power to the beautiful ballad.   The lovely tune has got lots of airplay on Val Joyce’s Late Date programme on RTE Radio 1 and on the main local radio stations this Christmas.
“I’m generally very proud of it,” says Cormac. 

 

 

Coffee Table Book on Westmeath Houses

A large book comprising around 700 photos of many local houses, which are almost as many years old was launched last month in Athlone.
Athlone historian, Donal O’Brien researched, photographed, and wrote ‘The Houses and Landed Families of Westmeath’.  The work is a perfect resource for students of local history, and for the pure enjoyment of those interested in particular local houses of history in the county.
The coffee table style book was launched by another Athlone historian, Gearoid O’Brien at the Prince of Wales, Hotel.  The houses featured in the book are catalogued alphabetically and begin at Abbey House in Athlone, and end with two Woodville Houses, one in Lissywollen, Athone and the other in Mullingar.   
Donal is a native of St. Francis Terrace, Athlone, and was one of five children of Harry and May O’Brien.    
At the Prince of Wales Hotel last month, the room was crowded with family, friends and neighbours of Donal’s, which included many devotees of local history.
“He has left no stone unturned in his search for information.  Quite often in the course of his researches he caught out earlier writers who had perhaps jumped to conclusions or mixed up two different houses,” said Gearoid about Donal’s authorship of the new history book. “Through the pages of this wonderful book we can trace the various movements in Irish architecture through the last 300 years as evidenced by the great houses of Westmeath.  Quite apart from the houses is the great deal of information on the families who lived in the houses – this includes amusing stories and anecdotes about many of the landed families of Westmeath.”
Gearoid made a prediction about Donal’s book.  He said that in 100 years, people will be talking about Donal O’Brien – the man who wrote ‘The Man and Landed Families of Westmeath’.
The book is available in the Left Bank Antiques shop, Main Street, Athlone (next to Sean's Bar), and other local shops, or directly from Donal.