Irish Eyes

By Mattie Lennon

It happened up in Blessington,
In November sixty-nine.
Justice wasn't evident
And the day was far from fine.
The Gardai got contrary
And they gave to me the knock
In their effort for to camouflage
The Hideout On The Rock.

I was told, "We're going to charge you
With the burning of a rick",
By Nash and Tighe and Sullivan
And Paddy Browne, the prick.
If the facts had been before me
I'd have got an awful shock;
Had I known 'twas all a cover-up
For The Hideout On The Rock.

Then on a day in early Spring
(But Winter mists hung down)
A daring raid was carried out
In Rathdrum's lonely town.
The Gardai combed the district
And kept vigil round the clock.
To ensure the culprits' safe return
To the Hideout On The Rock.

The next landmark in the story
Is Dublin's Arran Quay;
A zealous guard was there shot dead
On a sunny April day.
To search West-Wicklow homesteads
The Gardai soon did flock,
But somehow or other chanced to miss
The Hideout On The Rock.

When the boys from Dublin Castle came
They saw it was too late,
But still a mounted "sub-Machine"
Stood focused on the gate.
They 'spied the dump of weapons
When they forced the master lock.
Maurice Sullivan needed brown corduroys
At The Hideout On The Rock.

The Blessington patrol-car
Brought out spades to delve the lands.
There was talk of hidden money
And of Gardai's blistered hands.
Unless they thought some Leprechaun
Had left behind his crock,
They'd know no buried treasure lay
Around Or Near The Rock.

The action that those Gardai took
Might puzzle you or me
But their Sergeant came from Kerry
Where all murderers go free.
I hear they pushed him sideways
To a station in Cool-lock
To reward him for the part he played
In The Hiding On The Rock.

© Mattie Lennon

If you are interested in learning more, please go to an earlier column by Mattie,