"Finnegan's Wake" ( Roud 1009) is an Irish-American comic folk

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, first published in New York in 1864.Frank McNally, 'Manhattan Transfer', An Irishman's Diary, The Irish Times, 5 November 2019
/ref> Various 19th-century variety theatre performers, including Dan Bryant of Bryant's Minstrels, claimed authorship but a definitive account of the song's origin has not been established. An earlier popular song, John Brougham's "A Fine Ould Irish Gintleman," also included a verse in which an apparently dead alcoholic was revived by the power of whiskey. In more recent times, "Finnegan's Wake" was a staple of the Irish folk-music group

the Dubliners The Dubliners () were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in pers ...

, who played it on many occasions and included it on several albums, and is especially well known to fans of

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 jumpers and are widely credited with popularisi ...

, who performed and recorded it with

Tommy Makem Thomas Makem (4 November 1932 – 1 August 2007) was an Irish folk music, folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, tin whistle, l ...

. The song has been recorded by Irish-American Celtic punk band

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...

Summary

In the ballad, the hod-carrier Tim Finnegan, born "with a love for the

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

", falls from a ladder, breaks his skull, and is thought to be dead. The mourners at his wake become rowdy, and spill

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

over Finnegan's corpse, causing him to come back to life and join in the celebrations. Whiskey causes both Finnegan's fall and his resurrection—''whiskey'' is derived from the Irish phrase '' uisce beatha'' (), meaning "water of life".

Hiberno-English phrases and terms

*'' brogue'' (an Irish or Scottish accent) *'' hod'' (a tool to carry bricks in) (Slang term for a tankard or drinking vessel) *'' tippler's way'' (a tippler is a drunkard) *'' craythur'' (craythur is colloquially used in Ireland, especially in the North, as referring to someone, or something, for whom one should have sympathy, or to which one should extend some affection. It can also refer to ''poteen'' ( Poitín); "a drop of the craythur" is an expression to have some poteen) *''Whack fol the dah'' (non-lexical vocalsinging called " lilting"; see

Scat singing Originating in vocal jazz, scat singing or scatting is vocal Musical improvisation, improvisation with Non-lexical vocables in music, wordless vocables, Pseudoword#Nonsense syllables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, t ...

and mouth music. It is also punned upon repeatedly by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

as Whack 'fol the Danaan'.) *''trotters'' (feet) *''full'' (

drunk Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. The technical term ''intoxication ...

) *'' mavourneen'' (my darling) *''hould your gob'' ( shut up) *''belt in the gob'' ( punch in the mouth) *'' Shillelagh law'' (a brawl) *'' ruction'' (a fight) *'' bedad'' (an expression of shock)''bedad, interjection'' Merriam-Webster Dictionary Non-English phrases: *''Thanam 'on dhoul'' ( Irish: D'anam 'on diabhal, "your soul to the devil") However, in other versions of the song, Tim says "Thunderin' Jaysus."

Use in literature

The song is famous for providing the basis of

's final work, ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

'' (1939), in which the comic resurrection of Tim Finnegan is employed as a symbol of the universal cycle of life. As whiskey, the "water of life", causes both Finnegan's death and resurrection in the ballad, so the word "wake" also represents both a passing (into death) and a rising (from sleep), not to mention the wake of the lifeship traveling in between. Joyce removed the

apostrophe The apostrophe (, ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one o ...

in the title of his novel to suggest an active process in which a multiplicity of "Finnegans", that is, all members of humanity, fall and then wake and arise. "Finnegan's Wake" is featured at the climax of the primary storyline in

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy novels and short story, short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for two sequences of novels, t ...

's award-winning novella, '' Riders of the Purple Wage''.

Recordings

Many bands have performed Finnegan's Wake including notably: *

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 jumpers and are widely credited with popularisi ...

on several of their albums, including '' Come Fill Your Glass with Us'' (1959), '' A Spontaneous Performance Recording'' (1961), '' Recorded Live in Ireland'' (1965), and the 1984 ''Reunion'' concert at Lincoln Center. *

The Dubliners The Dubliners () were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in pers ...

on several live albums. *

on their albums '' Do or Die'' and '' Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA''. * The High Kings on their albums ''Memory Lane'' and ''Live in Ireland''Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

External links

*
''Finigans Wake''
Arranged by John Durnal and published in New York by John J. Daly. The date on the front is 1854, but the date inside is 1864, which may be the correct date.
'Finnegan’s Wake - Origins' (Brendan Ward on the origins of the song)'Finnegan’s Wake - The Origin of the Species' (Brendan Ward on its authorship)'Finnegan’s Wake - The Lyrics' (Brendan Ward compares differences in the earliest published lyrics)
{{Authority control 1850s songs Finnegans Wake Songs about alcohol Songs about Ireland Irish-American culture Irish folk songs The Dubliners songs Vaudeville songs 1950s in Irish music 1960s in Irish music