Viva La Quinta Brigada - Christy Moore (Cover) by Seth Staton Watkins

Viva La Quinta Brigada - Christy Moore (Cover) by Seth Staton Watkins

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"Viva la Quinta Brigada" is a Christy Moore song about the Irishmen who fought in the Spanish Civil War against Franco and the fascists. The title was inspired by a Spanish song about the war, Ay Carmela, in which "Viva la Quinta Brigada" is the opening line.

Moore wrote this song choosing to focus on the Irish socialist volunteers, also known as the Connolly Column, who were a small contingent within the 15th International Brigade (the song was first published as Quinta by mistake, or fifth, but changed to Quince, or 15th, in later releases). The melody is substantially similar to the version of Viva la Quince Brigada recorded by Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers in the early 1940s.

The song was inspired by Spanish Civil War veteran Michael O'Riordan's 1979 book Connolly Column.

Moore said: "Without Michael O'Riordan I'd never have been able to write Viva la Quince Brigada. I must have performed the song over a thousand times and every single time I sing it I think of Mick and wonder how can I ever thank him enough. In Spain in 1983 I was reading his book, Connolly Column – the story of the Irishmen who fought for the Spanish Republic, and I began this song as I read on. The song was lifted entirely from his book."
Lyrics:
[C]Ten years be[G]fore I saw the [C]light of morning
A comradeship of [F]heroes was laid
From every corner of the [G]world came sailing
The Fifteenth [F]International [C]Brigade

They came to stand beside the Spanish people
To try and stem the rising fascist tide
Franco's allies were the powerful and wealthy
Frank Ryan's men came from the other side

Even the olives were bleeding
As the battle for Madrid it thundered on
Truth and love against the force of evil
Brotherhood against the fascist clan

[C]Viva la Quin[F]te Brigada
'No Pasaran', [G]the pledge that [C]made them fight
'Adelante' is the cry around [Am]the hillside
[F]Let us [G]all remember [C]them tonight

Bob Hilliard was a Church of Ireland pastor
Form Killarney across the Pyrenees he came
From Derry came a brave young Christian Brother
Side by side they fought and died in Spain

Tommy Woods age seventeen died in Cordoba
With Na Fianna he learned to hold his gun
From Dublin to the Villa del Rio
Where he fought and died beneath the blazing sun

Viva la Quinte Brigada
'No Pasaran', the pledge that made them fight
'Adelante' is the cry around the hillside
Let us all remember them tonight

Many Irishmen heard the call of Franco
Joined Hitler and Mussolini too
Propaganda from the pulpit and newspapers
Helped O'Duffy to enlist his crew

The word came from Maynooth, 'support the Nazis'
The men of cloth failed again
When the Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Dun Laoghaire
As they sailed beneath the swastika to Spain

Viva la Quinte Brigada
'No Pasaran', the pledge that made them fight
'Adelante' is the cry around the hillside
Let us all remember them tonight

This song is a tribute to Frank Ryan
Kit Conway and Dinny Coady too
Peter Daly, Charlie Regan and Hugh Bonar
Though many died I can but name a few

Danny Boyle, Blaser-Brown and Charlie Donnelly
Liam Tumilson and Jim Straney from the Falls
Jack Nalty, Tommy Patton and Frank Conroy
Jim Foley, Tony Fox and Dick O'Neill

Viva la Quinte Brigada
'No Pasaran', the pledge that made them fight
'Adelante' is the cry around the hillside
Let us all remember them tonight