The Mary Wallopers: 'People are starting to be more OK talking about Irish unity'
Andrew Hendy, front, and the other members of The Mary Wallopers.
Of course Andrew Hendy, one of the three singers in the Mary Wallopers, has some opinions about the furore that engulfed the Irish women’s national football team following their singing of “Ooh aah, up the Ra” after they qualified for next year’s world cup. In particular, he takes aim at the Sky Sports News presenter who asked Chloe Mustaki “if education is needed” around the chant.
“It was very patronising. And also the gall of a British media person to say that to an Irish person was ridiculous,” begins Hendy. “It's mad that people will start talking about murder and stuff the minute any kind of Republican sentiment shows its face, but the British Empire has the blood of millions of people on its hands.”
Along with his brother Charles and their friend Seán McKenna, Hendy has had a phenomenal rise with the Mary Wallopers, a trad band whose cult following exploded over the various Covid lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 due to regular livestreams they did from a converted shed at their home in Dundalk. They’ve sold out dates around the country since and release their self-titled debut album on their own BC Records on October 28.
They also say they know hundreds of trad and folk songs. So back to that chant, ostensibly from the Wolfe Tones’ Celtic Symphony. It’s a “football song at the end of the day”, says Hendy, “and a chorus that has Republican sentiment in it, but it was just so, so unfair for the team that that happened.
“But I think what is positive is it seemed to be the case that nearly everyone in the country was like, 'they didn't do anything wrong'. And I don't know if that would have been the same 10 years ago. But it seems there's more of a thing in the country now where people are going like, 'you know what? colonialism was awful’. And it's OK to say that and it's OK to make fun of the Brits, because they deserve it. If all we can do is make fun of them, we have to do that.”
Though he says this with a smirk on his face, Hendy’s not joking. “When we are giving out about the Brits, we're giving out about the British government and colonialism - and colonialism is wrong, whether it's coming from France, or Portugal, or Britain or America. It's all wrong. And to me, of course I love Ireland, but to me, it's not just Ireland versus England. It's right versus wrong. So we never stop talking about it because it's important to open the conversation and to get people thinking about it and what's right and what's wrong.”
He adds: “We never ever stop - it's more important than the music, really. That's what the music is for, in a way, especially for us. The only reason we play music is because it's a way to deal with injustice.”
Having grown up in Dundalk, Hendy says it's incredibly important to talk about the political situation. 2If I go to my friend's house five minutes away, I get a text saying I'm in the United Kingdom. And I have done my whole life. It's constantly there.”
Hendy also says he wants to see the island of Ireland voting as one. “The change I'd love to see is no Church or border in the country.
"It's getting better. The power of the church is dwindling. And also, people are starting to be more OK with talking about Irish unity and about republicanism, and about Irish pride. And I think that's great. I think it's good. Irish people are having more confidence in Ireland... it's going to take a long time to heal, but it's a product of oppression that Irish people are so apologetic for rebelling a lot of the time.”
The Mary Wallopers have been sitting on their debut album for a long time, having initially recorded some of the tracks five years ago. The band has expanded in the time since, swelling to seven members for the live shows.
“We really just wanted to capture the live energy of us playing,” says Hendy, explaining they turned down various record labels to release the album on their own. “They make money ripping off young creative people who are starting out, and then they leave them at the sideline, and they just continue on. If an offer is good, obviously accept it. But if it's not, stick to your guns.”
Sticking to their guns has worked out for the Mary Wallopers so far. As for goals, it’s pretty simple: “We just need to make money. I just want to be able to survive. I don't really care about anything else. If I can just play music every day and then have a house to live in. And food.”
- Selected dates from the Mary Wallopers' extensive Irish tour: Thurs 17 Nov - National Stadium, Dublin; Dec - Cyprus Avenue, Cork; Wed 28 Dec - Mike The Pies, Listowel; Sat 31 Dec - Dolans, Limerick
