UP WENT NELSON
A song released by four Belfast teachers (Gerry Burns, Finbar Carolan, John Sullivan and Eamonn McGirr) who called themselves 'The Go Lucky Four' in 1966 after Nelson's Pillar was blown up in Dublin. The song went straight to No.1 in the Irish charts and stayed there for eight weeks.
The statue and pillar on which it stood was blown up in 1966, the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.
The head of Nelson, although damaged, was intact. It was stolen from storage by students from Trinity College for a prank and given to The Dubliners who had it on stage with them. It is now on display in the Reading Room in Dublin City Library on Pearse Street.
(Click here to listen to Up Went Nelson)
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew
As up went Nelson and the pillar too
One early mornin' in the year of '66
A band of Irish laddies were knockin' up some tricks
They though Horatio Nelson had overstayed a mite
So they helped him on his way with some sticks of gelignite
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew
As up went Nelson and the pillar too
The Irish population came from miles around
To see the English hero lying on the ground
The Dublin corporation had no funds to have it done
But the pillar blew to pieces by the ton, ton, ton
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew
As up went Nelson and the pillar too
A crowd of lads and lassies from a dance nearby came out
To see the bits of Nelson lyin' all about
A gussune from the Coombe says we'll have to have a care
In case the corporation put King Billy there
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew
As up went Nelson and the pillar too
A song released by four Belfast teachers (Gerry Burns, Finbar Carolan, John Sullivan and Eamonn McGirr) who called themselves 'The Go Lucky Four' in 1966 after Nelson's Pillar was blown up in Dublin. The song went straight to No.1 in the Irish charts and stayed there for eight weeks.
The statue and pillar on which it stood was blown up in 1966, the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.
The head of Nelson, although damaged, was intact. It was stolen from storage by students from Trinity College for a prank and given to The Dubliners who had it on stage with them. It is now on display in the Reading Room in Dublin City Library on Pearse Street.
(Click here to listen to Up Went Nelson)
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew
As up went Nelson and the pillar too
One early mornin' in the year of '66
A band of Irish laddies were knockin' up some tricks
They though Horatio Nelson had overstayed a mite
So they helped him on his way with some sticks of gelignite
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew
As up went Nelson and the pillar too
The Irish population came from miles around
To see the English hero lying on the ground
The Dublin corporation had no funds to have it done
But the pillar blew to pieces by the ton, ton, ton
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew
As up went Nelson and the pillar too
A crowd of lads and lassies from a dance nearby came out
To see the bits of Nelson lyin' all about
A gussune from the Coombe says we'll have to have a care
In case the corporation put King Billy there
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
Up went Nelson in old Dublin
All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew
As up went Nelson and the pillar too