| Irish: Óró, sé do bheatha abhaile | |
| Type: | Folk song |
| Translation: | Oh, 'tis you are welcome home |
| Native Name Lang: | ga |
| Genre: | Traditional Irish music |
| Form: | Ballad |
| Language: | Irish |
Irish: Óró, sé do bheatha abhaile or Irish: Óró, sé do bheatha 'bhaile (in Irish pronounced as /ˈoːɾˠoː ʃeː d̪ˠə ˈvʲahə ˈwalʲə/) is a traditional Irish song that came to be known as a rebel song in the early twentieth century. Irish: Óró is a cheer, whilst Irish: sé do bheatha 'bhaile means "you are welcome home".
Similarly to many folk songs, the origins of this song are obscure. While the melody bears a resemblance to the nineteenth century English sea shanty "Drunken Sailor", several versions of the Irish tune and chorus are identifiable.
In 1884, Francis Hogan of Brenormore, near Carrick-on-Suir, then "well over seventy years of age", reported that "this song used to be played at the 'Hauling Home', or the bringing home of a wife". The "hauling home" was a ceremony that took place a month after a wedding when a bride was brought to live in her new husband's home. This version consists only of the chorus.
Irish: Énrí Ó Muirġeasa also records a similar refrain in 1915 from the Barony of Farney, "but the song to which it belonged was lost before my time". There is no mention of "hauling home" and the line that P. W. Joyce gives as ga|thá tu maith le rátha|'tis you are happy with prosperity [in store for you] is instead ga|Tá tú amuiġ le ráiṫċe|You've been gone three months.
This song has also been associated with the Jacobite cause as the traditional version mentions ga|Séarlas Óg|Young Charles, referring to Bonnie Prince Charlie and dating the song to the third Jacobite rising of 1745–1746.
The tune appears as number 1425 in George Petrie's The Complete Collection of Irish Music (1855) under the title Irish: Ó ro! 'sé do ḃeaṫa a ḃaile (modern script: Irish: Ó ro! 'sé do bheatha a bhaile) and is marked "Ancient clan march". It can also be found at number 983 (also marked "Ancient Clan March") and as a fragment at number 1056, titled "Welcome home Prince Charley".
In the early twentieth century, it received new verses by the nationalist poet Patrick Pearse and was often sung by members of the Irish Volunteers during the Easter Rising. It was also sung as a fast march during the Irish War of Independence.
Since 1916, it has also been known under various other titles, notably ga|Dord na bhFiann|Call of the Fighters or Irish: An Dord Féinne. The latter title is associated with Pearse in particular as the Irish Volunteers chanted the song during the Easter Rising. This version features the pirate or "Great Sea Warrior" Grace O'Malley, a formidable power on the west coast of Ireland in the late sixteenth century. Pearse shows his knowledge of the Jacobite version in the way he adapts it to the new independence cause. He emphasises the Irishness of the fighters by substituting native Grace for foreign Prince Charlie and changing ga|Béidh siad leis-sean Franncaigh is Spáinnigh|They’ll be with him, French and Spanish to ga|Gaeil féin 's ní Francaigh ná Spáinnigh|Gaels they, and neither French nor Spaniard.
The song was recorded by The Dubliners on their 1987 album 25 Years Celebration, by Cruachan on their 1995 album Tuatha na Gael and by Sinéad O'Connor on her 2002 album Sean-Nós Nua as well as her 2003 album She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty.