The First Of May

The Valley Of Knockanure

Tommy Byrne Guitar Player Wolfe Tones

News From The Wolf Tones

New C.D. The latest news is that I am currently writing songs and working on a new CD which we hope to have in time for Christmas!  We will be giving all our members the opportunity to get it before general release. It will be a special version of it just for you, more about that in the next newsletter. The new C.D. is now on sale, the title is Child Of Destiny, the tracks included are - Swing A Banker, The Cliffs Of Moher, Hibernia, Child Of Destiny, Uncle Nobby Steamboat, Siobhan, Anne Devlin, Moonbeam, The Celtic People, My Green Valleys, John O'Brien, Champion Of Champions, The Merman, The First Of May, Big Brother, Who Fears To Speak Of 89, and Admiral William Brown.

New D.V.D. We are also working on a documentary, see the promo of it below  Copies of this will only be available through the website so make sure all your friends join up and get this exclusive DVD.

No Airplay For The Wolfe Tones I am appalled at the lack of Irish content on Irish radio.  I have done many interviews over the recent times and could not believe that, first of all, they had no Wolfe Tones music in their database or at best maybe 1 or 2.   The DJ’s have none or little choice in what music is played or in the content of his/her show, even on local radio. For instance I gave an interview lately and they played Michael Jackson as a musical introduction and I was played out by the Spice Girls! This is Irish Radio, its crazy, like Jackson's 'Man in the Mirror', it reflects him, radio should reflect the Irish music scene and Irish content. It should be made compulsory as part of their licence agreement to have at least 50% Irish content in each show. Many other countries have a similar policy, Canada for example, living beside a powerful nation with a very influential musical industry have a similar one to this, 60% I think. Why shouldn’t we? Thousands of jobs would be created in the Irish musical industry in recording studios, for song writers, Musicians, road crews and technicians.     We are a great musical nation but there is a policy on our airwaves that favours imported music over that which is locally produced. Now this puts Irish talent at a disadvantage, I object to the fact that they get more exposure than Irish local acts who are equally as good and in most cases put on a better show or equally as good. Don’t get me wrong, I welcome international acts to Ireland, we travel the world and get fair treatment in the many lands we have toured but so too do the indigenous acts. We shared the stage with many great performers in many places across the world including Siamsa and anyone who remembers them will vouch for the fact that the Wolfies could hold their own with the best of them.   Now let’s work together to bring change to the airwaves, bombard them with requests for the Tones and let’s see what happens, maybe, just maybe, they might change their policy, I hope it changes for our new CD ------Brian Warfield 2011   The above by Brian reminded me of something Tommy Makem said in his last interview, '“I’m very worried about how our culture is faring all over the country,’ he said. “More and more our traditions are being downgraded and shoved under the table. In the past thirty years we have done to ourselves what the English government couldn’t do in 800 years. We’ve hammered hell out of our culture.” Tommy was right,  there are over 1,300 folk songs on this site, there's more chance of winning the lottery that any two of these songs getting played on our radio stations in a row.

The Wolfe Tones Story     Noel Nagle - The Wolfe Tones   Tommy Byrne The Wolfe Tones

Eamonn Mac Thomáis - A Sense Of Freedom

I sat down in my best armchair and asked one of my youngfellas to put on a few records. I think I heard him coursing under his breath. ''Now Look It'' I said, when I was a chisseller I had to keep winding the handle of the Old Master's Voice type gramaphone all night long for me ma. What's more I said, I had to change the needle after each song. Now it's all automatic, a flick of the switch and the E.S.B. does the winding and the needle has more lives than a cat. Well fair play to the yonngfella, he put the record on the stereo and I sat back to listen to the Brace Wolfe Tones. The whole Bakers Dozen of songs and music came flooding back to me one after the other. I think this record is one of the best, if no their very best. The music is sweet and lively to make your feet tap and the songs are sung with great gutso and love. Among the thirteen songs there is a wide vairety to suit every taste and ''The Flower Of Scotland'' you can nearly smell. Here we have ''Planxty McGuire'' The Galtee Mountain Boy Mick Collins and Let The People Sing and a host of other songs. The ones my young lad liked best were Irish Eyes The Piper, The Mairmaid with his fishy tail. He said there was a right bit of a beat to the songs Sargeant William Bailey and Admiral William Brown. I must admit the songs Farewell To Dublin, Joe McDonnell and The Good Ship Catalpa are my favourites, I'm a sucker for Dublin Cobblestones, the sound of the magical names like James Joyce, Molly Bloom, Bang Bang, Johnny Fourty Coates and Zozimus nearly lifted me out of my armchair. I got the sudden urge to walk down Eccles Street in the footsteps of Molly Bloom. Then I wanted to stand at Bridgefoot Street Corner where I often stood and talked to Johnny Forty Coates. Maybe I'll go down and kiss the Sea Horses on Essex Bridge where Zozimus resited and drop in for a visit to Clonturk House Drumcondra where Bang Bang died, but sure I had to stay to listen to the rest of the songs. The Good Ship Catalpa reminds me of Bold Fenian Men and Joe Clarke, Joe the hero of The Battle Of Mount Street Bridge. in 1916 was the first man to make the name Catalpa a household name in the year 1960. Joe published at his own expence a booklet ''The Story Of The Catalpa''. A few years later Joe presented The Catalpa Flag to The National Museum. Joe Clarke was our link with The Fenians. He was a friend of Rossa, Devoy and Stephens who in turn were a link to The Young Irelander's of 1848, that's what you call ''Tradition''. Whenever I think about Joe McDonnell, Bobby Sands, Patsy O'Hara or the other seven men who died for Ireland on hunger strike in the H Blocks I always bring a prayer now a song and the words of Mickey Divine who also made the supreame sarcriface .''There is nothing that any human being values more that life, Every man clings to it with every ounce of strenght of his being  To willingly surrender it is acknowledged as the greatest sarcriface and man can make.   Introduction To Album - Child Of Destiny The title track was written as a plea to our future generations, our children and our grandchildren, who are lost in a sea of sorrow, despair and uncertainty. We have mortaaged their future and denied them their past. We have wasted the precious resources in an excess of greed and selfishness. We allow them to drown in misery and wastefulness, in our rush to globalise we, the selfish generation have neglected many things of great value that should be handed down to them but we cast to the oceans of neglect and deliberately erased it from their education. We present this collection of songs and stories that capture the moment, songs of our time, stories of our past and warnings for the future. This generation full of their own imporance have ungreatfully forgotten and redculed our hero#s who gave everything they had for their people and their country. We should honour them with pride, they gave their welth their reputation and their lives for the land they loved. What better example can we pass on to the young generation than the hero's of our historic past. We have undervalued our musical heritage including our great ballad tradition, which for centuries was the only means in which the ordinary people gained knowledge of their history or current events. The language and national spirit and all that was good about Ireland has being rubbished andthrown into the already poluted sea of waste and hardship. This is a generation asking to be saved from greed and ignorance, asking for a chance to know their history, the true story of their land and a fair deal for the future. A Child Of Innis Fail, The Land Of Destiny

Brian Warfield Speaks Out Brian Warfield Wolfe Tones The Wolfe Tones have been asked by many of our fans on Facebook and Twitter to bring out a song to rally the Irish people and help them in their resolve to meet the difficult challenge ahead.  'A Nation Once Again' was suggested and I think it's a great idea. The problem is radio exposure, we need our stations to rally behind it too and they mostly have left behind the Irish ballad and The Wolfe Tones during the so called Celtic Tiger years in their rush to become global.   Many of the values held and built up by the Irish people over the years have been left behind and forgotten. A drug culture prospers and cocaine and dope replace the traditional pint in the pub. Laws were passed that criminalises people for having an evening dinner and a bottle of wine out with his wife and family while life has become cheap as drug gangs take over our streets. Rural Ireland is devastated as people are held captive in their own homes by these draconian over the top laws. The Irish session in the local is almost extinct except in some tourist areas.  A whole way of life was rubbished in the rush to Europeanise everything. Laws that suited other European countries with highly developed transport systems cannot suit rural Ireland or the Irish way of life.   Now the Irish people must seek change, we cannot leave things as they are, let's take back our country, we must make our voices heard, we must vote out all sitting members of the Dail and put in all new faces regardless of party.  It will shake the hell out of them. We need real change, it's no use just changing parties for Government, we must send a new group of people there and all old faces must go. They are responsible, they are all part of the system that watched over the disastrous policies.  .   They say that history repeats itself and if you read Irish history you would know that the so called Famine in Ireland almost wiped out all the old Irish customs because of the devastation, the starvation, disease, death and emigration. The aftermath of these catastrophic years brought despondency which obliterated almost all things Irish, the language, the music, the folk lore and a whole way of life. The succeeding generations rushed to anglicise [as they have done here in the past decades], discarding everything of value in Ireland in favour of an imported culture. A snobbery entered the hearts and minds of the Irish who embraced English ways and customs and all things Irish became second rate and repugnant to them. It took generations of our people to regenerate an interest in our music, language, dance and traditions until once again the Irish saw the beauty in their own music and song. Now I believe we have learned little from history because it keeps repeating and once again our ballads, songs, music and traditions are given little support while the imports are given preference and priority. I put my faith in the young generation who I believe will embrace the traditions and values of their country and are proud of the land that past generations have  fought and died for, and the traditions that they cherished for centuries.