{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Building Up And Tearing England Down; The Social History In A Ballad","description":"Building Up and Tearing England Down! In this jam-packed episode we dig into Dominic Behan\u2019s razor-sharp ballad of the same name, tracing how a few mighty verses capture a century of Irish labour on Britain\u2019s building sites and railways. First we pit two iconic renditions against one another\u2014Christy Moore\u2019s pub-roar 1969 and The Mary Wallopers\u2019 lament of the 2020s. From there we zoom out: Ballads as people\u2019s textbooks \u2013 Why songs remember the names, jokes and grievances that official syllabi leave out, and how oral tradition keeps working-class history alive. The Irish navvy in Britain \u2013 Long journeys, shanty lodgings, \u201cNo Dogs, No Blacks, No Irish\u201d signs, and the solidarity forged alongside Caribbean, South Asian and Eastern European co-workers. When labour organises, labour wins \u2013 From the mass pickets of the 1972 builders\u2019 strike to today\u2019s nationwide rail stoppages. Full-circle irony \u2013 The modern faces of union militancy in Britain\u2014RMTs Mick Lynch, Eddie Dempsey and Unite\u2019s Sharon Graham\u2014all proudly tracing their roots back across the Irish Sea. Whether you\u2019re a folk-music nerd, a student of migration history, or just wondering why \u201clad culture\u201d still belts out old rebel tunes after closing time, this episode shows how one ballad can tear down myths while building new bridges of solidarity. Tune in, turn it up, and get ready to sing along\u2014and maybe organise\u2014by the final chorus. ","author_name":"Undercover Irish","author_url":"https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/undercoverirish","html":"