Depends did he ever see Tully play? I don't think anyone who hasn't has should be considered a fan although if they seen Patsy Gallagher brush his teeth I may relax my stance.
The short answer is anyone who took up arms in any rebellion against imperialism. The long answer is a little complicated. A lot of it has to do with the translations from its original English, into Irish and then back again as to who it refers to. Ownership of being the "soldiers". In English the lyric is "Soldiers are we" was harking back to the various rebellions throughout Irish history. The song was written at the time of he Irish literary revival which coincided (or drove) a national confidence and a movement towards Home rule, so it is full of nationalistic rhetoric about throwing off the imperial shackles. When the Free State came about there was no anthem and this was chosen after a lot of mucking about. The Irish translation that we use now is “Sinne Fianna Fáil” which is not really an accurate translation. It is an approximation of "soldiers of Ireland/ soldiers of destiny". Those involved in the Easter rising used that term to describe themselves(Also Ãglaigh na hÃireann which is the name adopted by the IRA), so officially when we talk about "soldiers are we", it is them to whom we refer...... However.......There is also another Irish translation "Sinne laochra fáil" meaning warriors which ironically, I guess, is more often used in Republican/Nationalist circles because the translation “Sinne Fianna Fáil” was promoted by the political party Fianna Fáil as the official translation.
thats me, front and centre.....so surely Im allowed a thought or two on the matter ? please log in to view this image
Being much younger than you dinosaurs I've been spoiled by seeing only more recent Celtic legends. Like Samaras
do you mean the legendary Wullie O`Samaras who was cruelly taken from us in his prime by a stray zeppelin back when the Kaiser was warmongering in the Balkans ?
