Alwen Dam in North Wales is only a few miles from where the song's protagonists landed, and was built by Sir Robert McAlpine's company "McAlpine's Fusiliers" is an Irish ballad, set to a traditional air, which was popularised in the early 1960s by

Dominic Behan Dominic Behan ( ; ; 22 October 1928 – 3 August 1989) was an Irish writer, songwriter and singer from Dublin who wrote in Irish and English. He was a socialist and an Irish republican. Born into the literary Behan family, he was one of the mo ...

. The song relates to the migration of Irish labourers from Ireland to Britain during the 20th century. The ballad's title refers to the eponymous construction company of Sir Robert McAlpine, a major employer of Irish workmen at the time. John Laing and Wimpey (also referred to in the opening monologue; a part not included in some cover versions of the song) were other major construction companies employing Irish ' navvies' (a British term referring to building labourers and originally coined for the labourers who built the British canals or 'navigations'). The colloquial and local terms in the song's monologue and lyrics include references to a 'spike' (a hostel or 'reception centre' sometimes used by Irish navvies who could not find or afford lodgings) and to ' shuttering' (a rapidly constructed wooden casing made to hold concrete while it sets).

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

, also referred to in the monologue, is a port on

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

(Ynys Môn) in Wales where the main ferry service across the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

from

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

used to dock.

Cricklewood Cricklewood is a town in North London, England, in the London Boroughs of Camden, Barnet, and Brent. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north-west of Charing Cross. Cricklewood was a small rural hamlet ...

is a district of North West London which had a relatively large Irish population. The

Isle of Grain Isle of Grain (Old English ''Greon'', meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the unitary authority, district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. Once an island and now forming part of the peninsul ...

is an area in Kent where the River Medway joins the Thames Estuary east of London which was a large construction site for several years while a large power station was built there. The song offers a satirical view of the life and work of the Irish labourers of the times and as such proved popular. Some sources suggest that the words of the song were derived from an earlier poem or poems by Irish labourer Martin Henry, with the song's arrangement attributed to

. Along with a number of other songs, Behan provided the song to

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 ...

for use in a new set-structure. In its original form, the song was performed in two parts, a spoken monologue (originally spoken by Ronnie Drew of the Dubliners self-accompanied by his flamenco guitar) followed by the sung verses supported by the full band. The song has also been recorded by Paddy Reilly,

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 ...

, The Capitol Showband, Pecker Dunne, the Young Dubliners and others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcalpine's Fusiliers Irish folk songs 1960s songs The Dubliners songs Year of song unknown 1960s in Irish music