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Up with the barricades..

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  • 04-10-2011 11:32am
    #1
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭


    ...What is actually meant by that sentence?



    For example Tommy Owens say in Shadow of a gunman,


    Why isn’t every man in Ireland out with the IRA?
    Up with the barricades,
    Up with the barricades,


    What is he talking about?


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    #2
    Fysh
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 11,052 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    It's a call to arms. A barricade is basically an improvised wall made of whatever you've got handy, to either stop people getting from one side to the other. See Wikipedia for more info.

    In the context of the quote you posted, it's an exhortation to take up arms and forcefully resist occupation. A more aggressive version of "batten down the hatches", if you like.


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    #3
    Denerick
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,488 ✭✭✭Denerick


    Exactly. 'Over the top' was a world war one reference to men jumping over 'the top' of the trenches and out into no mans land (Where most inevitably perished) Barricades were an urban thing, I always think of the revolutionary scenes at the end of 'Les Miserables' when I hear of barricades. It seems to sum up a hopeless cause against dramatically superior forces. To me, at least.


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