Quite by chance while looking though what was available on the BBC iPlayer I came across a program called Guitar Heroes which is simply a compilation of performances by rock bands and other guitar players from the BBC archives. The episode in question caught my eye because it included a performance by one of my favorite rock groups: Horslips. The track that they played was “Dearg Doom”, from a performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. I was pretty sure I’d be able to find it on YouTube, and I was right. Here it is.

The song comes from the album, The Táin, which is a musical retelling of the Celtic legend, Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley). The song title means “Red Destroyer” and it is the signature tune of the Ulster hero, Cúchulainn, who single-handedly holds back an invading army while the rest of the Ulster warriors are suffering from a curse.

Much of what Horslips did in The Táin, and also in The Book of Invasions, was re-tell Irish myths in rock music, but using themes from traditional Irish tunes. The guitar riff from “Dearg Doom” is based on “O’Neill’s March” which, as I understand it, was the battle song of the Uí Néill, a prominent Ulster clan whose badge, a red hand, has become the official badge of the modern province of Ulster. Here it is being performed, rather incongruously set to scenes from Braveheart.

Somewhat topically, the song eventually ended up being used as part of a theme tune for the Irish soccer team during their 1990 World Cup campaign. Here Eamon Carr and Barry Devlin of Horslips talk a little bit about the history of the song.

If Jason Heller ever does an article about fantasy-based rock albums to partner the science fiction one he did for Clarkesworld I expect Horslips to feature in in.