For 157 years, a statue of the English admiral Horatio Nelson stood on a tall stone pillar in the middle of Dublin’s main street. Then, early one morning in March 1966, a bomb blew the top half of the pillar into the street.
Learn from Songs · Specials: Ireland · B1–B2
Lord Nelson
Tommy Makem’s comic song about the night in 1966 when Nelson’s Pillar in Dublin was blown up: the passive in history (was built, was blown up, was taken), the past perfect (he had never known defeat), irony, and how to discuss a monument fairly, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
Was anyone hurt?
SOPHIA
No one, luckily. And many Dubliners laughed. Within days there were three comic songs about it. This one, by Tommy Makem, mocks the admiral who “had never known defeat”, until that night.
PHILO
A song that laughs at an explosion. We must think about that carefully.
Before you listen: the song
New York and Dublin, 1966
Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and was killed in the battle. In Dublin, then part of the United Kingdom, a granite pillar with his statue on top was built in 1808–1809 in the middle of Sackville Street, later renamed O’Connell Street. Some Dubliners admired it; many Irish nationalists saw it as a symbol of British rule, and for decades people argued about removing it.
On 8 March 1966, the fiftieth anniversary year of the Easter Rising, Irish republicans blew up the top of the pillar. Nobody was hurt. The Irish Army later demolished what was left. Students stole Nelson’s stone head as a prank; today it is in the Dublin City Library on Pearse Street.
Tommy Makem, who wrote “The Liar”, wrote “Lord Nelson” on a New York subway train when he heard the news. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem recorded it live in Dublin that year, at a concert remembering the 1916 Rising. It is sung to the tune of “The Sash My Father Wore”, an Orange song, which is part of the joke.
A monument tells you as much about the people who build it, and pull it down, as about the person on top.
Listen: the irony
PHILO
Listen once. How does the song describe Nelson at the beginning? What happened to him? Why is “he had never known defeat” funny?
SOPHIA
Listen to the audience laughing. Then answer Section A.
🗿 Listen to the song: “Lord Nelson” (Tommy Makem, 1966), by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Lord Nelson”, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.Read the lyrics →
The passive in history
MARCOS
The pillar was built in 1808. It was blown up in 1966. The head was taken by students. It is kept in a library today.
SOPHIA
was / were + past participle when the action matters more than who did it, or the doer is unknown. History books are full of it. Add by for the doer: It was demolished by the army.
The past perfect
DEMETRIA
Nelson had never known defeat. By 1966, the pillar had stood there for 157 years.
SOPHIA
had + past participle for the time before a past moment. Before 1966, nobody had managed to remove it.
Irony and tone
PHILO
The song calls him “brave” and says he “had never known defeat”, while describing him being blown into the street.
SOPHIA
Irony = saying the opposite of what you mean, for humour or criticism. Words for tone: mocking, affectionate, bitter, playful, respectful. Ask: is the song mocking Nelson, the British, the bombers, or all of them?
Two views
MARCOS
Some people argue that the pillar was a symbol of foreign rule and had no place in a free Dublin.
SOPHIA
Others point out that blowing up monuments is dangerous and lawless, that Nelson was part of Dublin’s history too, and that the decision should have been made peacefully. Weigh the arguments, and decide what you think.
Sophia’s comparison: the statues of tyrants and the golden calf
SOPHIA
When the Athenians drove out their tyrants, they set up statues of the two men who had killed one of them, Harmodius and Aristogeiton. When the Persians captured Athens, they carried those statues off to Persia. Every conqueror changes the statues.
PHILO
And Moses, coming down the mountain, saw the golden calf and burned it and ground it to powder. Some statues, people decide, should not stand. The hard question is always: who decides, and how?
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| was / were + past participle | the passive in history | The pillar was built in 1808. |
| by + doer | who did it | It was demolished by the army. |
| had + past participle | the past perfect | He had never known defeat. |
| irony | saying the opposite for effect | “brave Lord Nelson” |
| argue / point out | reporting views fairly | Others point out that… |
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. Who was Lord Nelson?
2. What happened in March 1966?
3. Was anyone hurt?
4. Where is Nelson’s head today?
5. Where did Tommy Makem write the song?
6. Why is the tune part of the joke?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. The pillar was in 1808. (build)
8. It was blown in 1966.
9. The head was taken students.
10. He had never defeat. (know)
11. By 1966, it had there for 157 years. (stand)
12. Others point that it was dangerous.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “The pillar was build in 1808.”
14. “Before that night, he had never known defeat.”
15. “The head is keep in a library.”
16. “It was demolished by the army.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
The statue debate. In two groups, argue for and against removing an old statue of a controversial person. Then agree on a peaceful way to decide.
Discuss. 1. Is it ever right to remove a monument? Who should decide? 2. Can a joke about a violent act be harmless? 3. Why do statues make people so angry?
Write (150–180 words). A news report from 8 March 1966. Use the passive, the past perfect, and report two different reactions with argue and point out.
Now play the gamebook: the statue of a foreign king, and a city that must decide.Play the gamebook →