C. Moore did a mistake with the name: the Irish People fought in the “Quince” o “Decimoquinta” Brigada (15), not in the “Quinta” (5)
The 15th International Brigade (officially the XVª Brigada Internacional) was formed in early 1937 under the supervision of the Comintern, by a vast majority of the English-speaking volunteers who traveled to Spain to fight against General Francisco Franco’s fascist uprising during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
To manage the language barriers, the 15th Brigade was divided into distinct battalions based on nationality and language: The British Battalion, The Abraham Lincoln Battalion (USA), The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion (Canada), The Connolly Column (Ireland) and The Dimitrov Battalion (Balcanic countries: Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria…)
The Abraham Lincoln Battalion, commanded by Oliver Law, was the first military unit in United States history to be headed by an African-American officer.
The 15th Brigade was used as a shock elite unit by the Spanish Republic, meaning they were sent into the absolute worst meat-grinders of the war. They suffered catastrophic casualties, losing up to one-third of their men in single engagements: Battle of Jarama (February 1937), Battle of Brunete (July 1937), Battle of Teruel (Winter 1937–1938), and the Battle of the Ebro (1938)
In late September 1938, Juan Negrín, the Republican Prime Minister, ordered the total dissolution and withdrawal of the International Brigades from the war, hoping the international community to pressure Hitler and Mussolini to withdraw their regular troops from Franco’s side. The plain, however, failed.
On October 28, 1938, the volunteers of the 15th Brigade marched down the avenues of Barcelona in a massive, emotional farewell parade. It was there that legendary communist leader Dolores Ibárruri (La Pasionaria) gave her famous speech to the international soldiers:
“Podéis iros orgullosos. Sois la historia. Sois la leyenda. Sois el ejemplo heroico de la solidaridad y de la democracia universal (…). ¡No os olvidaremos! Y cuando el olivo de la paz florezca, entrelazado con los laureles de la victoria de la República española, ¡volved!…”
“You can go proudly. You are history. You are legend. You are the heroic example of democracy’s solidarity and universality (…). We will not forget you! And, when the olive tree of peace puts forth its leaves again, mingled with the laurels of the Spanish Republic’s victory — come back!…”
The majority of Irish society and the Catholic Church actually supported the Fascists.
Eoin O’Duffy’s, a pro-fascist Irish politician managed to enlist over 700 Irishmen (“Blueshirts”) to go to Spain and fight for General Franco, Hitler, and Mussolini.
Catholic bishops in Maynooth supported the European fascists, preaching anti-communist propaganda from the pulpits and “blessing the Blueshirts” as they sailed off under swastika-laden ships toward Spain.
The track serves as a moving tribute to the Irish volunteers who traveled to Spain to join the International Brigades (specifically the 15th International Brigade) to fight against General Francisco Franco’s fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War.
La Quinta Brigada (The Fifty International Brigade)
Roughly 250 Irish socialists, trade unionists, and republicans left Ireland in 1936 to defend the Spanish Republic.
Led by Republican icon Frank Ryan, they sailed to Spain from every corner of the world to “stem the rising fascist tide”.They joined the 15th International Brigade (known as the Connolly Column). They found themselves in a hellish war zone, which Moore poetically describes as a place where “even the olives were bleeding” while the brutal Battle for Madrid thundered around them.
Bob Hilliard was a Protestant Church of Ireland pastor from Killarney. He fought and died alongside a young Catholic Christian Brother from Derry. In Ireland, these two men would have been on opposite sides, but in Spain, they died together fighting for the same secular, democratic cause.
Tommy Woods was an idealistic boy from Dublin who was only 17 years old. He lied about his age, learned to hold a gun with the Republican youth group Na Fianna, and was killed beneath the blazing sun in Córdoba.
The song also explains the dark political conflict happening in Ireland at the exact same time. While Frank Ryan’s anti-fascist men were fighting for the Republic,
Ultimately, Frank Ryan’s men were heavily outnumbered and suffered catastrophic casualties on Spanish battlefields like Jarama and the Ebro. The song acts as a musical tombstone to ensure their memory is not forgotten by history, ending with a list of the real names of Irish poets and workers who never returned home (such as Charlie Donnelly and Kit Conway).
Bob Hilliard: A Church of Ireland pastor from Killarney who crossed the Pyrenees to join the fight and died in battle.
Tommy Woods: A young man of only 17 years old from Dublin who learned to hold a gun and died fighting in Córdoba.