Green and Red of Mayo
Written by
Performed by the Saw Doctors
The green and red of Mayo
I can see it still
It's soft and craggy boglands
It's tall majestic hills
Where the ocean kisses Ireland
And the waves caress it's shore
The feeling it came over me
To stay forever more
Forever more
From it's rolling coastal waters
I can see Croagh Patrick’s peak
Where one Sunday every summer
The pilgrims climb the Reek
Where Saint Patrick in it's solitude
Looked down across Clew Bay
With a ringing of his bell
Called the faithful there to pray
There to pray
Take me to Clare Island
The home of Gránuaile
It's waters harbour fishes
From the herring to the whale
And now I must depart it
And reality is plain
May the time not pass so slowly
Before I set sail again
Set sail again
This song was written by members of the Saw Doctors after a sailing trip off the coast of County Mayo. It describes what they saw from the sailboat and expresses their attachment to the land, the water, the flora, the fauna, the history, and the culture of Ireland. The lyrics don’t tell a story, but describe how the landscape can connect a person to a place.
At the age of sixteen, Saint Patrick was kidnapped and brought to Ireland to herd sheep. He escaped six years later. After a dream telling him to evangelize Ireland he returned as a missionary bishop. In 414 AD, after spending his adult life spreading the word of Christianity throughout Ireland, Patrick was nearing the end of his time on earth. Legend says that he climbed Cruachan Aigli and for 40 days fasted and prayed for Ireland’s salvation. He rang his bell to chase away the demons that were torturing him in the form of blackbirds. Then, an angel came to Saint Patrick to him and said that his prayers for Ireland would be answered. The name of the mountain was changed to Croagh Patrick. On Garland Sunday, the last Sunday in July, people come from all over Ireland, and the world, to worship at Croagh Patrick (the Reek to the locals). Many of them make the two-hour climb up the mountain barefoot, punishing their bodies with the harshness of the land, in order to repent their sins and clean their souls.
Patrick may have been alone when he met the demons and the angel, but he was in a place that had been the site of pagan worship for thousands of years. According to the Eyewitness Travel Guide, the view from Crough Patrick "affords one of the finest panoramic views in Ireland: out over the Atlantic and the offshore islands, to the west; south over the mountain fastnesses of Mayo and Connemara; the rolling plains of central Mayo to the east; the island-studded Clew Bay to the north with Achill Island looming in the distance." P.240 From this place, where one can see so much of Ireland, Patrick claimed it all for God and the Christian church. Ireland must be a sacred land for God to have sent this great missionary to ensure its redemption. With a ringing of his bell/called the faithful there to pray.
Gránuaile, Grace O’Malley in Modern English, was born on Clare Island. When her first husband’s family refused to pay her widow’s pension she used Clare Ireland and an army of 200 men to rule the ocean around Clew Bay. Her pirate army demanded fees for navigation and protection of passing ships, and sometimes raided them. Gránuaile married her second husband to gain control of Carraigahowley Castle and the whole of Clew Bay and its coast. She was powerful enough to have bargained with the English for her own and her family’s freedom and land rights. She successfully petitioned Queen Elizabeth for assistance with the problems that "constrained your highness fond subject to take arms and by force to maintain herself and her people by sea and land the space of forty years past."
There is a story that she was refused entrance to Lord Howth’s Castle. She captured his son and as ransom demanded a promise that Castle Howth gates remain open to visitors and that there always be an extra place setting at the table. The glory of Gránuaile ‘s life is intertwined with the places she lived and fought, even the tradition of Irish hospitality. Take me to Clare Island.
Ireland is a small island and one is never far from the ocean. Looking at the land from a sailboat, the ocean is in every direction. It nurtures Ireland and protects its fishes and whales. Once again, Ireland is portrayed as a special place. Where the ocean kisses Ireland/and the waves caress its shore.
Saint Patrick devoted his life to "saving" Ireland from paganism and delivering it to Christianity. Gránuaile’s family motto was Terra Marique Potens - Strong on Land and Sea. She fought and negotiated to keep power over the homelands for her family and claim even more. It doesn’t matter whether or not these legends are true. They are part of the history, the culture, the place names of Ireland. You cannot separate the legends from the landscape.
The Saw Doctors are named after the Travellers who journeyed from town to town sharpening and repairing saws. The narrator is on a sailboat riding the waves, moving up and down and across the water. Just like the Travellers, he experiences these places, not from a constant position but from a moving, changing perspective. There is a realization that this view is only temporary. And now I must depart it.
He also encounters the landscape from afar, with the ocean between him and the land. He is not describing how he usually experiences the land. He does not climb the Reek. He is not one of the faithful. This is how the features of the land appear to him as filtered through the stories, from a distance, and from memory. I can see it still.
Just as the landscape of Mayo has contrasting qualities; soft and craggy, tall and majestic, green and red heath, the compelling tales of Patrick and Gránuaile must be understood in the context of their time. They are stories of power and control of Ireland, the land and its people. They glorify success over demons, rival clans, and the English. But there is another side to these stories. The pagans lost their sacred mountain, and Ireland, to Christianity. Two churches still struggle for the control of Ireland. Granuaile’s battles and negotiations took place as the English were attempting to change the way land was inherited, divided and managed. The stories about her are brilliant, but ultimately, the English were successful in dissolving the land traditions. The narrator knows that he is describing a romantic vision. Reality is plain.
Despite its harsh landscape, poverty, and isolation, the occupation and ownership of Ireland has been contested for centuries. Even now, the people of Northern Ireland consider themselves to be part of England, but it is important that they remain a part of the place that is Ireland. The descendants of the people who emigrated from Ireland years ago, including myself, still long to walk there.
When the Saw Doctors perform Green and Red of Mayo, they repeat the first verse after the last. The crowd sings the lyrics so loudly that the band cannot be heard.
The green and red of Mayo
I can see it still
It's soft and craggy boglands
It's tall majestic hills
Where the ocean kisses Ireland
And the waves caress it's shore
The feeling it came over me
To stay forever more
Forever more
The message is clear. The hillsides, boglands, mountains, ocean, islands, beaches, cliffs, shore, heath, fishes, stories, and customs, make Ireland an extraordinary place.
Stay forevermore.