Last time we read Pearse’s poem. Tonight, a love story from the same week. Joseph Plunkett, one of the leaders of the Rising, was engaged to an artist, Grace Gifford. They were going to marry on Easter Sunday.
Learn from Songs · Festivals: Easter Rising · Part 2 of 3 · B1–B2
Grace
Part 2 of the Easter Rising series: the true story of Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford, married in Kilmainham Gaol hours before he was executed, told in the ballad “Grace”. Narrative tenses with exact times (hours before, at dawn, by then), the passive (they were married, he was executed), be allowed to, and would for the future in the past, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
And did they?
SOPHIA
The Rising began the next day. After the surrender, Joseph was sentenced to death. On the night before his execution, Grace married him in the prison chapel. They were together as husband and wife for a few minutes only.
PHILO
Love is strong as death, says the Song of Songs.
Before you listen: the song
Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, 3–4 May 1916
Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887–1916) was a poet and the editor of a literary magazine. He had been seriously ill with tuberculosis since childhood, and had had an operation on his neck just before the Rising, but he fought in the GPO and was one of the seven men who signed the Proclamation. Grace Gifford (1888–1955) was an artist and cartoonist from a Protestant Dublin family. Her sister Muriel was married to Thomas MacDonagh, another of the leaders.
On the evening of 3 May 1916, the day MacDonagh was executed, Grace was brought to Kilmainham Gaol. She and Joseph were married in the prison chapel, surrounded by soldiers, and they were not allowed to speak except to make their vows. Early the next morning, 4 May, Joseph was shot. Grace never remarried. During the Civil War in 1923 she was herself imprisoned in Kilmainham, and painted a picture of the Madonna on the wall of her cell, which can still be seen.
The song was written in 1985 by two brothers from Mullingar, Seán O’Meara (words) and Frank O’Meara (music). Jim McCann, a former member of the Dubliners, recorded it, and it stayed in the Irish charts for months. Seán O’Meara has said it is a love song first and last. In the song, Joseph speaks to Grace on the night of their wedding, and as he walks out at dawn.
Love is as strong as death.
Listen: the night and the morning
PHILO
Listen once. Where are they? What does Joseph ask Grace? What happens at dawn?
SOPHIA
Listen to how gently Jim McCann sings it. Then answer Section A.
🌹 Listen to the song: “Grace” (Seán and Frank O’Meara, 1985), sung by Jim McCann.Listen to the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Grace”, Jim McCann.Read the lyrics →
Narrative tenses with exact times
MARCOS
They had planned to marry on Easter Sunday. The Rising began the next day. By then, Joseph had been sentenced. They married hours before he was shot, and at dawn he was led out.
SOPHIA
past perfect for the earlier plan; past simple for the events; time expressions to make it exact: the night before, hours before, at dawn, by then, a week later.
The passive in a true story
DEMETRIA
They were married in the chapel. He was executed at dawn. The picture can still be seen.
SOPHIA
was / were + past participle for things done to people. can / will / must + be + past participle for the passive with modals: It can be seen. It must be remembered.
Be allowed to; would for the future in the past
PHILO
They weren’t allowed to speak. She was allowed to see him for a few minutes. He knew he would never see her again.
SOPHIA
be allowed to = have permission (past: was / were allowed to). would = the future seen from the past: She didn’t know that she would never marry again.
Sophia’s comparison: Laodamia, and the Song of Songs
SOPHIA
Protesilaus married Laodamia, and the next day sailed for Troy. He was the first Greek to jump ashore, and the first to die. The gods, they say, pitied her so much that they let him come back from the dead for three hours to see her.
PHILO
And the Song of Songs says: set me as a seal upon your heart, for love is strong as death; many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| had + past participle | an earlier plan | They had planned to marry on Easter Sunday. |
| the night before / hours before / at dawn | exact times in a story | hours before he was shot |
| was / were + past participle | the passive | They were married in the chapel. |
| can be + past participle | passive with modals | It can still be seen. |
| was / were (not) allowed to | permission in the past | They weren’t allowed to speak. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Where were Joseph and Grace married?
2. When had they planned to marry?
3. What happened at dawn the next morning?
4. Who wrote the song?
5. What did Grace paint in her cell in 1923?
6. How does Seán O’Meara describe the song?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. They had to marry on Easter Sunday. (plan)
8. They were in the chapel. (marry)
9. He was executed dawn.
10. They weren’t to speak.
11. He knew he never see her again.
12. The picture can still be . (see)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “They were marry in the chapel.”
14. “By then, he had been sentenced.”
15. “They didn’t allow to speak.”
16. “She didn’t know she would never marry again.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Retell the story. In pairs, retell the story of Joseph and Grace in eight sentences, using exact time expressions, two passives and one past perfect.
Discuss. 1. Why has this love story become so famous? 2. Is the song a love song, a rebel song, or both? 3. Should songs and films turn real tragedies into romance?
Write (120–150 words). A letter from Grace. Imagine Grace writes to a friend the day after. Use narrative tenses, the passive, be allowed to and would.
Now play the gamebook: a wedding in a Roman prison, and a sentence that might still be changed.Play the gamebook →