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The Auld Triangle
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Wikipedia article
"'The Auld Triangle'" is a song by Dick Shannon, often attributed to Brendan Behan, who made it famous when he included it in his 1954 play 'The Quare Fellow'. He first performed it publicly in 1952 on the RTE radio programme 'The Ballad Maker's Saturday Night', produced by Mchel hAodha. Behan's biographer, Michael O'Sullivan, recorded, 'It has been believed for many years that Brendan wrote that famous prison song but Mchel hAodha says he never laid claim to authorship. Indeed he asked him to send a copyright to another Dubliner, Dick Shannon.'Michael O'Sullivan, Brendan Behan: A Life, Blackwater Press, 1999, p.163 When he recorded the song for 'Brendan Behan Sings Irish Folksongs and Ballads' (Spoken Arts 1960), Behan introduced it with these words: 'This song was written by a person who will never hear it recorded, because he's not in possession of a gramophone. He's ... he's ... pretty much of a tramp.'
Shannon's authorship was asserted by his relatives in discussions on the Mudcat Cafe folksong forum. Here, Deasn Seanin, his nephew, recorded: 'My father Thomas Shannon told me as far back as the 1950s that Dickey had written it. Dickey is buried in Manchester. It would be nice to see a plaque erected indicating him as the author.'[https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=12294 Deasn Seanin 'RE: Origin: The Old Triangle', Mudcat, 21 September 2015] Shannon's grandson Tom Neary posted: 'I can confirm that it was indeed Dicky Shannon who penned the song for Behan. Brendan and Dicky were very close pals, as well as drinking mates....I have many stories of their escapades together....Brendan always credited Dicky for the song because they were great pals, however, I can verify that Dicky never received a penny in royalties and neither did his family...I must also point out that grandad was not in fact a tramp, but was a highly articulate man with a very dry sense of humour, which could cut you to the quick without degrading you. He was also a very tough man who had literally fought his way through life in the Liberties.'[https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=22222 Tom Neary 'The Ould Triangle', Mudcat, 21 July 2012]
The first commercial recording was by Brendan's brother Dominic Behan on his 1958 Topic album 'Irish Songs.' On the liner notes, he wrote, 'The Old Triangle is a song of Mountjoy Prison and was made popular in the play "The Quare Fella" by Brendan Behan of Dublin.'[https://www.theballadeers.com/ire/db_d1958_t28_recalled.htm Irish Songs (Recalled by Dominic Behan), details on The Balladeers website]
The song was later made famous by Luke Kelly, Ronnie Drew and The Dubliners in the late 1960s, and was revived for a new audience by Irish rock band The Pogues on their 1984 album 'Red Roses for Me'.
' takes place in Mountjoy prison during the early 1950s
The song has become also a football chant, sung by fans of the Dublin Bohemian Football Club whose ground is near the prison. In 2021, Ronan Burtenshaw reported, 'Recently, the club's fans have gone viral for their renditions of The Auld Triangle'.'[https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/07/how-dublins-bohemians-are-bringing-fan-owned-football-into-europe Ronan Burtenshaw, 'How Dublins Bohemians Are Bringing Fan-Owned Football into Europe', Tribune, 16.7.2021]
Content
The song is used to introduce the play, a story about the occurrences in a prison (in real life Mountjoy Prison where Behan had once been lodged) the day a convict is set to be executed. The triangle in the title refers to the large metal triangle which was beaten daily in Mountjoy Prison to waken the inmates ("The Auld Triangle goes Jingle Jangle"). The triangle still hangs in the prison at the centre where the wings meet on a metal gate. It is no longer used, though the hammer to beat it is mounted beside it.
In the original play by Brendan Behan, the song is written as the "old triangle" not "auld triangle".
The triangle was rung regularly to signify points in the prison's routine.
This pub is notable for having art on its outside walls paying homage to Irish Republican Hunger Strikers from the second half of the 20th century
A second level of meaning is hinted at in the final verse in which the singer imagines himself dwelling in the women's prison. Another mourns the separation from "his girl Sal". These hint at the internal erotic fantasies that prisoners use to separate themselves from the harsh prison environment. In this meaning the old triangle becomes the female pudenda and the Royal Canal the vagina.
As with many Irish ballads, the lyrics have been changed with each passing cover. For example, the Dropkick Murphys recording condenses the structure into a three-lyric section song with a chorus based on the last two lines of each stanza in the original.
Chorus
'And the auld triangle went jingle-jangle'
'All along the banks of the Royal Canal'
Recordings
This song has been recorded by a number of artists.
Notable performances
The Doug Anthony Allstars performed a medley (a variation on Fred Geis's "Lament for Brendan Behan" prefacing "The Auld Triangle") on the Australian ABC program The Big Gig in the late 1980s.
The Frames performed it as the final song of a two-hour concert at the Vic Theater in Chicago on 23 November 2010. They performed the song live on RT television's 'The Saturday Night Show' on 18 December of the same year.
U2 played a live cover version at Croke Park, Dublin on 24 July 2009 as part of the 360 tour. Bono joined lead singer Glen Hansard on 8 May 2012 in New York City's The Living Room venue to perform the song.
At the Ceiliradh (celebration) at Royal Albert Hall on 10 April 2014, it was sung by a collection of performers including Glen Hansard, Lisa Hannigan, Elvis Costello, Conor OBrien (of Villagers), Paul Brady, Imelda May, John Sheahan, Dnal Lunny, Andy Irvine and The Gloaming.
References
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