‘The Royal Munster Fusiliers’ by Cornelius O'Mahoney

With thanks to Ciarán Conlan‎ for sending me the link to this poem

A hitherto undiscovered poem written by an Irish soldier during the First World War was found in an attic.  Peter ‘Derry’ McCarron was clearing the house of his late mother in Kendal, Cumbria, UK when he discovered the poem among some old documents.The poem was written by Peter's great-uncle Cornelius O’Mahoney, who was born in Bandon, Co. Cork, Eire in 1889.

Cornelius was 26 when he fought in the Dardanelles, Turkey in 1915 with the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers – who lost over a third of their regiment during the Great War.

‘The Royal Munster Fusiliers’ - dedicated to the memory of our dear comrades who died in Seddul-Bahr, April 25 1915.

They are gone, they are gone
Yet their memory shall cherish
Our brave boys who perished
And crossed over the bar
O’er their graves now the wild hawk
Doth mournfully hover
In that lone weary jungle
Of wild Seddul-Bahr.

In the highest of spirits they
Went through the Dardanelles
And scattered their rifles
O'er the hills afar
Not knowing their days
On this Earth they were numbered
When the regiment arrived
In wild Seddul-Bahr.

Shot down in their gloom
And the pride of their manhood
But God’s will be done
’Tis the fortune of war
With no fond mother’s words
To console their last moments
Far, far from their homesteads
In wild Seddul-Bahr.

May they rest, may they rest
Unhallowed in story
Tho’ their graves they are cold
Neath that lone Turkish star
Yet their presence is missed
From the ranks of the Munsters
Our heroes who slumber
In wild Seddul-Bahr.'

Cornelius O’Mahoney

Check out this website for the full story and for a photograph of Cornelius:

https://www.irishpost.com/news/gone-gone-irish-soldiers-beautiful-ww1-poem-written-trenches-uncovered-101-years-133587?fbclid=IwAR27SxN8UxImXg5BFAQcQntaVwDKCC5iqmFUdLJmBPr9k_z-y3xye5b6p_Y