"The Men Behind the Wire" is a song written and composed by
Paddy McGuigan
Patrick Joseph McGuigan (8 December 1939 – 17 March 2014), known as Paddy Joe McGuigan, was an Irish traditional musician and songwriter who played for some years with The Barleycorn folk group. He wrote a number of well-known Irish rebel songs ...
Operation Demetrius
Operation Demetrius was a British Army operation in Northern Ireland on 9–10 August 1971, during the Troubles. It involved the mass arrest and internment (imprisonment without trial) of people suspected of being involved with the Irish Republi ...
.
The song was recorded by the Barleycorn in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
(produced by Billy McBurney) and pressed in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
by Release Records in December 1971. After its release on 14 December the song shot into the Irish charts, selling far more copies than any other single until then released in Ireland, and remained in the charts for months. It reached #1 position in the Irish charts on 22 January 1972, where it remained for three weeks. After a gap of one week it returned to #1 for two weeks on 15 February. Royalties from the recording were donated to families of the internees.
The song was subsequently recorded by many singers and bands in Ireland and abroad, including the
Wolfe Tones
The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band that incorporate Irish traditional music in their songs. Formed in 1963, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double meaning of ...
,
Liam Clancy
Liam Clancy ( ga, Liam Mac Fhlannchadha; 2 September 1935 – 4 December 2009) was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's ...
and the
Flying Column
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ''ad hoc'' unit, formed during the course of operations.
The term is usually, though not necessarily, appli ...
. British singer/songwriter
Dido
Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC.
In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...
in her song "Let's Do the Things We Normally Do" from the album ''
Safe Trip Home
''Safe Trip Home'' is the third studio album by Dido. It was released in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2008.
The song describes raids by British soldiers, and the "men behind the wire" refers to those held without charge or trial at Long Kesh prison camp,
Magilligan prison
HMP Magilligan is a medium security prison run by the Northern Ireland Prison Service situated near Limavady, County Londonderry. It was first opened in May 1972 and comprised eight Nissen huts on the site of an army camp. The prison was di ...
The Barleycorn
The Barleycorn (also written as The Barley Corn) was an Folk music of Ireland, Irish traditional music and rebel music band.
The band, consisting of Paddy McGuigan, Liam Tiernan, Brian McCormick and John Delaney, was formed in mid-1971 in Belfas ...
''Live at the Embankment'' Release DRL 2004 LP (1972)
*
The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popu ...
''Save the Land'' (1972)
* Ray McAreavy on compilation ''The Men Behind the Wire'' (R & O Records, 1972)
* The
Wolfe Tones
The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band that incorporate Irish traditional music in their songs. Formed in 1963, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double meaning of ...
on their first album, ''Let the People Sing" (1973)
*
Patsy Watchorn
Patsy Watchorn (born 16 October 1944 in Crumlin, Dublin) is an Irish folk singer. He is notable for being a member of the Dublin City Ramblers and later The Dubliners.
Music career
Watchorn first came to prominence around 1969 as the lead sin ...
on ''Irish Republican Jail Songs'' (re-released 2001)
* The Devil's Advocates on ''Snipers In Derelict Houses'' (1999, Triage Records)
*
Steve Coogan
Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...
performed a version of the song on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
as
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
doppelgänger Martin Brennan from
Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...
on episode 4 of the television programme ''
This Time with Alan Partridge
''This Time with Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom first broadcast in 2019 on BBC One. It stars Steve Coogan as the inept broadcaster Alan Partridge in a spoof of current affairs programmes such as ''The One Show'' and '' Good Morning Brita ...