- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 242094
Coordinates: 40°22′2″N 26°27′18″E / 40.36722°N 26.455°E / 40.36722; 26.455
The Gallipoli peninsula (English /ɡəˈlɪpɵli/; Turkish: Gelibolu Yarımadası; Greek: Καλλίπολη) is located in Turkish Thrace (or East Thrace), the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" (Kallipolis), meaning "Beautiful City". In antiquity, it was known as the Thracian Chersonese (Latin: Chersonesus Thracica, Greek: Θρακική Χερσόνησος).
After the devastating 1354 earthquake, the Greek city of Gallipoli was almost abandoned, but swiftly reoccupied by Turks from Anatolia, the Asiatic side of the straits, making Gallipoli the first Ottoman position in Europe, and the staging area for their expansion across the Balkans.
The peninsula, a part of the Byzantine Empire, was gradually conquered by the Ottoman Empire from 13th century to the 15th century. The Greeks living there were allowed to continue their everyday life. In the 19th century, Gallipoli (Turkish: Gelibolu) was a district (kaymakamlik) in the Vilayet of Adrianople, with about thirty thousand inhabitants: comprising Greeks, Turks, Armenians and Jews.
I remember the day it stands clear in my mind
We stood down to Dun Laoighaire to wave you goodbye
Your ma was quietly weeping, there was a tear in my eye
As they sent you to Gallipoli to die.
You looked so young as you stood there with a glint in
your eye
and you sang rebel songs as the streamers flew high
Your ma turned away and I heard her sigh
For you are sailing to Gallipoli to die
You were all that we had, your mammy and me,
when you marched head erect you were proud as could be
And it killed your poor ma, and it slowly killed me
when you were blown to kingdom come on the shores of
Gallipoli.
We got only the one letter and we knew right away
It said deepest regrets your son was bold and he was
brave
you were only 18 yet your mammy and I
let you go to Gallipoli to die
You were all that we had, your mammy and me,
when you marched head erect you were proud as could be
And it killed your poor ma, and it slowly killed me
when you were blown to kingdom come on the shores of
Gallipoli.
You fought for the wrong country, you died for the
wrong cause.
and your ma often said that it was Ireland's great loss
all those fine young men who marched to foreign shores
to fight the war
when the greatest war of all was at home
You were all that we had, your mammy and me,
when you marched head erect you were proud as could be
And it killed your poor ma, and it slowly killed me
when you were blown to kingdom come on the shores of
Gallipoli.
You were all that we had, your mammy and me,
when you marched head erect you were proud as could be
And it killed your poor ma, and it slowly killed me
when you were blown to kingdom come on the shores of