The Sequel Of Tureengarriffe Poem by Francis Duggan

In January in nineteen twenty one more than eighty years ago
When the hills of Duhallow and Sliabh Luachra wore their white hats of snow
Near the Cork border in east Kerry Sean Moylan and his freedom fighting men
Shot to death a Tan Soldier and an R I C commander at Tureengarriffe glen.

Sean Moylan and his fearless men are now part of folklore
And the Tureengarriffe ambush will be recalled forever more
But in war there's little to celebrate in defeat or victory
And the sequel to Tureengarriffe was played out at Knocknagree.

The Tans and the R I C out for revenge shot at three boys at play
Badly wounding two and a fourteen year old died on that fateful day
An innocent civilian and his one and only crime
Was to be playing in the wrong field and there at the wrong time.

At Tureengarriffe in east Kerry a victory of sorts had been won
But in Knocknagree a few days later a mother grieved for her dead son
In war there's never happiness only suffering and heart break
But we do not learn from the past we repeat the mistake.

The sequel of Tureengarriffe was played out at Knocknagree
When an innocent paid with his young life for a rebel victory
But the same things keeps on happening in the World of today
For every victory in war the innocents must pay.