Grace || The Story Behind the Song

As we gather in the chapel here in old Kilmainham Jail
I think about these past few weeks, oh will they say we've failed?

From our school days they have told us we must yearn for liberty

Yet all I want in this dark place is to have you here with me

Oh Grace just hold me in your arms and let this moment linger

They'll take me out at dawn and I will die

With all my love I place this wedding ring upon your finger

There won't be time to share our love for we must say goodbye

Now I know it's hard for you my love to ever understand

The love I bare for these brave men, the love for my dear land

But when Pádraic called me to his side down in the GPO

I had to leave my own sick bed, to him I had to go

Oh, Grace just hold me in your arms and let this moment linger

They'll take me out at dawn and I will die

With all my love I'll place this wedding ring upon your finger

There won't be time to share our love for we must say goodbye

Now as the dawn is breaking, my heart is breaking too

On this May morn as I walk out, my thoughts will be of you

And I'll write some words upon the wall so everyone will know

I loved so much that I could see his blood upon the rose.

Oh, Grace just hold me in your arms and let this moment linger

They'll take me out at dawn and I will die

With all my love I'll place this wedding ring upon your finger

There won't be time to share our love for we must say goodbye

For we must say goodbye

This poignant ballad was written by Frank and Sean O'Meara in 1985, and was originally recorded by Jim McCann in 1986. It tells the sad story of the wedding of Joseph Plunkett to his sweetheart Grace Gifford. They were married a few hours before Joseph's execution in Kilmainham Prison.

Plunkett, one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising in Dublin, was a revolutionary who was also an accomplished poet. Gifford was an artist and cartoonist, and she used these talents toward revolutionary causes. The two became engaged Christmas 1915. They planned to be married Easter Sunday 1916, but the Easter Rising--begun April 24th, 1916, and ended seven days later when the Irish soldiers surrendered--prevented the fulfillment of their plans.

Chapel, Kilmainham Jail, where Joseph and Grace were married.

As Joseph was condemned to death as one of the rising's leaders, Grace purchased a wedding ring, and she and Joseph were married in the chapel of Kilmainham Jail in the presence of armed soldiers. Grace died in 1955.




Sorry to leave you with such a sad love story, especially on Valentine's Day. However, it is a beautiful song, tragic though it's story might be.

Thoughts, anyone? Would you like to see more stories behind songs?

Blessings & Love,
Georgie Grace

P.S. The girl in the video above-Caoimhe? Her name is pronounced kwee-va. ☺