Raglan Road

This is the road referred to by the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh (pictured) in his poem On Raglan Road, first published in the Irish Press on October 3rd, 1946 under the title ‘Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away’. The poem was written about a girl named Hilda Moriarty, who would not return Kavanagh’s love and affections. In an interview for an Irish documentary in 1987, Moriarty stated a large age gap between her and Kavanagh as one of the reasons a romantic relationship never flourished. The poem was set to music after Kavanagh heard the famous folk singer Luke Kelly singing in a Dublin pub. Kavanagh approached Kelly and said he should sing the poem. It was set to the tune of a traditional song, The Dawning of the day and later featured as a b-side to The Dubliner’s recording of Scorn Not His Simplicity in 1971. The song has been sung by many famous artists since. Van Morrision, SInead O’Connor, Billy Joel, Ed Sheeran, Mary Black and Mark Knopfler have all paid tribute with a rendition of Raglan Road, voted as Ireland’s Favourite Folk Song after an Irish TV series of the same name in 2019.