Amhrán na bhFiann - The National AnthemAmhrán na bhFiann - The National Anthem
The Irish Flag is called the tricolour and consists of green, white and orange. The green represents the older Gaelic tradition, the orange is representative of the latter settlers who were invariably Protestant and Presbyterian, while the white represents peace between the two traditions. It was first used as an emblem of the Young Ireland movement in the 1848 rebellion, the flag did not come into popular use until after its use in the 1916 Rising.
The National Anthem is called "Amhrán Na bhFiann" (The Soldier's Song) and was written in 1907 by Peadar Kearney, it was first published in the newspaper, Irish Freedom in 1912, but was not widely known until it was sung at the GPO (General Post Office) in Dublin which was the rebel headquarters during the 1916 Easter Rising.
The song actually consists of three verses and a chorus but it was the chorus which was formally adopted as the National Anthem in 1926, the previous anthem being 'God Save Ireland'. At away matches it is not unknown for the band to play the full version which can be very confusing as it appears that end of the chorus is played first and invariably the players and fans have finished well before the band!
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Soldier's Song
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