DESCRIPTION:
This ballad tells of the Wexford rising in 1798 and the brief hour of glory enjoyed by the insurgent forces. John Kelly was the son of a well-to-do merchant in Killanne which is a small town in the barony of Bantry, Co.Wexford. He was a leader of the men of his district. His party joined the insurgents after the taking of Enniscorthy and he was a leader of the party which cut off and defeated a party of reinforcements on their way to Wexford. Later he fought at Wexford, and was badly wounded while gallantly leading his men at New Ross. From there he was carried back to Wexford, and when the town was re-taken by the military he was hanged after a token-trial. After death his head was kicked around the street by soldiers. Brave Harvey is Bagenal Harvey, a Protestant landowner who was commander of the rebel forces at New Ross.