The Auld Triangle

"The Auld Triangle" is a song written by Dominic Behan for his brother Brendan Behan and is featured in Brendan's play The Quare Fellow. It 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. The song has also become known as "The Banks of the Royal Canal."

Subsequent background

The song has taken on a sort of life of its own and has gone beyond its status of a song in a play, developing into a modern Irish anthem. One of the earliest versions of the song was recorded by Ian & Sylvia as "The Royal Canal" for their Four Strong Winds album in 1963. Since then, musical groups as diverse as The Dubliners, The Pogues, The Liverpool Fishermen, The Doug Anthony Allstars, U2, The Dropkick Murphys, Smokey Bastard, the High Kings, and Poor Angus have covered the song. An unusual live version, recorded at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, appears on the live debut album The Dawning of the Day by Dublin-based pipe band St. Laurence O' Toole. As with many Irish ballads, the lyrics have been changed with each passing cover. For example, the Murphys' cover condenses the structure into a three-lyric section song with a chorus based on the last two lines of each stanza in the original. The Swell Season have also included the song in their live performances.

Bob Dylan and The Band also recorded a rendition of the song during their famed Basement Tapes sessions in 1967. This recording is widely available via bootleg but does not appear on the official Columbia Records release.

The song was recorded by Bert Jansch for his 2006 album The Black Swan. The song has also been recorded by Jeff Tweedy on his tour DVD Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest and was sung live by the Oysterband for their now-deleted 'Alive and Acoustic' recording. Eric Burdon also recorded a version, retitled "The Royal Canal".

The seminal midwestern Irish Band of the 1980s, The Old Triangle (Mike Wallace, Pete Yeates, Steve Mulligan), took their name from the song and also recorded it. It was also sung in the short film, "Macbeth Retold", starring James McAvoy, one of the three part ShakespeaRe-Told film produced by the BBC during November 2005.

In December 2008, popular American Singer and Songwriter, Cat Power released her Dark End of the Street EP, in which she performs a version of the song titled "Ye Auld Triangle".

The Frames performed "The Auld Triangle" as their final song of a two- hour concert at the Vic Theater in Chicago on November 23, 2010. Glen Hansard, the lead singer of The Frames, and Damien Dempsey released "The Auld Triangle" in Ireland on in December 2010 to raise funds for the charity Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. They performed the song live on RTÉ television's The Saturday Night Show on December 18 of the same year.