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Grace

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Grace Gifford Plunkett


When
Grace Eveleen Gifford, the sister-in-law of Tomas MacDonagh, picked Easter Sunday 1916 as the date on which she was to marry Joseph Mary Plunkett she had obviously no idea of the tragic events ahead of them. Days before the planned wedding Joseph Plunkett, who suffered his entire life with breathing difficulties, was admitted to the hospital and underwent an emergency operation. Easter Monday 1916, the day after the postponed wedding, Plunkett manned his post in the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin to take part in the Easter Rising.

After the surrender of the rebels, Joseph Plunkett was arrested and imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol. Just hours before his execution on 4 May 1916 he married
Grace Gifford in the jail chapel with two prison guards as witnesses.

Grace Gifford remained involved in the republican movement, especially in Sinn Fein, while earning a living as commercial artist. She voted against the Treaty, which divided Ireland into Saorstat Eireann, or
Irish Free State, and Northern Ireland, and during the Civil War she was imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol for three months.the Civil War Gifford became a respected member of Dublin's cultural society until she died on 13 December 1955. Grace Gifford was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery with full military honour.

Grace Gifford 1916

Grace
Performed by The Wolfe Tones

Verse I:
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.

Chorus:
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, so we must say goodbye.










Pictures from 1916 with the song "Grace" being sung by the Wolfe Tones.




Verse II:
Now I know it's hard for you my love, to ever understand,
The love I bare for these great men, my love for this dear land.
But when Padraig called me to his side down in the GPO,
I had to leave my own sick bed, to him I had to go.

Chorus

Verse III:
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.

Chorus


Copyright Asdee Music Ltd, Lyrics and Music by Frank & Sean O'Meara,


Copyright Karl Ó Broin | karlobroin@gmail.com

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