As the last verse shows, true love can prevail in any socio-political circumstance. Sheeran was inspired to write the song by how his grandparents had "this kind of Romeo and Juliet romance", which he saw as "the most romantic thing". They had eight children and 23 grandchildren. Sheeran said they "wore borrowed clothes to get married" and that "no one turned up at their wedding".ĭespite the disapproval of others, the couple's marriage lasted over 60 years until William's death in 2013. The obituary states the pair married in 1951. I'm gonna marry the woman I love/Down by the Wexford border She and I went on the run/Don't care about religion The couple, who didn't care about their religious differences, went to Co Wexford and eloped without their families' blessings.Īnd I asked her father, but her daddy said, no/You can't marry my daughter Nancy worked there as a nurse when they met during the Second World War.Įd Sheeran's Irish grandmother, Anne "Nancy" Mulligan, died in a nursing home in Ireland (Image: RTE)Īnother part of the song makes a strange reference to William's occupation: On the summer day when I proposed/I made that wedding ring from dentist gold.Įxplaining the line in an interview with Zane Lowe, Sheeran claimed: "He stole all the gold teeth in his dental surgery and melted them down into a wedding ring."īut as the song goes, Nancy's Irish Catholic father disapproved of her relationship with a Protestant from Northern Ireland. Well, I met her at Guy's in the Second World War/And she was working on a soldier's wardĪccording to an obituary in the hospital college's newspaper, William trained in and practiced dentistry at the hospital in the 1940s. I was twenty-four years old/When I met the woman I would call my own With the lyrics taking his grandfather's point of view, the song shares how William was 24 years old when the pair first met at Guy's Hospital in London: As William was a Protestant from Northern Ireland and Nancy was a Catholic from the Republic of Ireland, their relationship was unconventional at a time when Ireland was segregated by religion. The single, backed by the B-side Sunday Morning Nightmare, was a success and reached. Sheeran was inspired by the Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship his grandparents shared. If the Kids Are United is a song by English punk rock band Sham 69.
#If the kids are united song free#
To get the best of Irish history, culture, and folklore sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE newsletter.īut while the latter is a made-up tale that borrows its name from the Steve Earle song, Nancy Mulligan tells the real-life love story of Nancy and William Sheeran. It was one of two songs on the album in which the Grammy Award-winner paid tribute to his Irish roots, the other being Galway Girl. The Irish folk tune was released in 2017 on his album Divide.
Ed Sheeran's Irish grandmother has passed away but her legacy will live on forever.Īnne "Nancy" Mulligan, who died at a nursing home in Co Wexford last week, is immortalized by her grandson's song Nancy Mulligan.
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