If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Share Green Rushes With You Poem by Paula Glynn

The old, old country of Ireland,
That came to be 10,000 years ago,
First farmers to make use of the land,
The Stone Age begun,
The people to wish for the sun,
Celts coming in from Europe,
Speaking the tongue of Gaeilge,
Irish myth and magic coming to be.

Saint Patrick came from far away,
Other Christian missionaries following suit,
To have Christianity take over,
The indigenous pagan religion in 600AD,
Superstitions lucky like a four leaf clover,
Latin, Greek and Christian theology,
Following monasteries throughout Ireland,
The arts to flourish,
In manuscript illumination, metalworking,
Sculpture also their forte,
Every design their success,
Every ambition coming true.

Dublin came from not what you thought:
The 8th and 9th century Vikings,
The kings and queens to political sport,
Traveling from Scandinavia,
To end up invading and settling,
Into the green country of Ireland,
Dublin the hub of life since 988,
But then a man came along,
His name Brian Boro,
A man the high king of Ireland,
Fading the influence,
By those ambitious Vikings.

Along came the 12th century,
Time passing quickly for Ireland,
The Normans to decide to visit,
Building towns, castles and churches,
Their influence to create a New Ireland,
Agriculture and commerce their forte,
Arts and technology moving forward,
The common man on the loop.

King Henry came to declare himself,
Head of the Church of England,
Religion political, religion the way,
But then he wanted more,
And became the King of Ireland,
A bold move for sure,
Hoping to live in luxury from the poor,
The English and Scottish,
To work in plantations,
To know of sectarian conflict,
Being glad when the great liberator,
Daniel O'Connell got the act of Emancipation,
Passed by the London parliament,
History made, Catholics not able,
To add their fill and become,
Members of parliament in London.

No family could be without potatoes,
So when the blight struck,
Potato crops became rotten and black,
The poor Irish starving to death,
No potato crops to deliver,
Just empty sacks,
Two million Irish to sicken and die,
Other Irish to leave the country,
Whether to America or Liverpool,
Just anywhere, so they could survive.

The strong hold in Ireland carried on,
Until a man called,
Charles Stewart Parnell came along,
Becoming leader of the Irish Home Rule Party,
And encouraging people to be strong,
Protestants and Catholics to collide head on,
A country divided, the minority protestants,
The majority Catholics,
And Sir Edward Carson to threaten an armed struggle,
To bring strength to Ireland in the form of,
A Home Rule Bill, but not to be brought into the law,
Nationalists fooled, the Irish fooled,
Into fighting in the First World War,
Another history for Ireland in store.

Ireland had another victory,
James Connolly declaring the Irish Republic,
Independent of Britain, the year 1916,
But a foul was the execution,
These heroes lost in the battle,
Ireland, however, had its other heroes:
Eamon De Valera, the other Michael Collins,
To create Dail Eireann, the Irish Republic,
A parliament declaring power,
The Irish now moving on up for a while.

But now comes the war of independence,
Splitting Irish republic and political thoughts,
Those in the guerille war not to be caught,
And Ireland remained split,
Civil war destroying lives,
All in the name of politics,
But a treaty was drawn up,
Time not forgetting the bloodshed,
The battles that Ireland faced,
Throughout its history.

An Irish free state,
Northern Ireland having its own parliament,
A stable time, for a short while,
For then came Bloody Sunday,1972,
13 people dead, from the bloodshed,
Of a country divided,
The war between protestants and Catholics,
Never ending, friendship needing mending,
Like broken fences, the political landscape,
The Celtic Tiger a new start for the Irish,
The Irish becoming American,
And other nationalities,
For those countries have gained,
People of history, allure, value and originality,
The old saying of Ireland,
If I knew you were coming,
I'd share green rushes with you.