If Ireland’s God is about our children, then Scratch & Briar is about us as children. The children we were. And the cost of the things that have been done to us. Ireland is a country of secrets and silence. And the darkness of those secrets is almost too much to bear. Institutional abuse. Sexual abuse. Perpetrated by those in positions of power. Perpetrated by those tasked with our care.

Lyrics

My sister’s in America
My blood runs in her veins
Her heart a branch of my heart
Gorse scratched and ruby briar

We stood together side by side
The scrutiny and glare
Her words the shape of my words
Silence for the brave
Silence
Brave

I thought with years unfurling
The healing salve of time
I would cease to see the shadow fall
When I close my eyes
I hold a space for you inside
For hearts once intertwined
To stretch, grow strong, push past the dark
Take flight in bird filled skies

My sister’s in America
My blood runs in her veins
Her heart a branch of my heart
Gorse scratched and ruby briar

Scratch & Briar doesn’t focus on the details of abuse. In doing so we would subtly imply that the crime is in the past. That the wrong is historical. But the insidious nature of such crimes is that there is no end to the suffering. The abuse itself can come to an end but the effects are long lasting.

And it is to our shame as a country that we have left the responsibility of recourse and justice to the victims. It is the grown-up children who must stand and speak. Who must find the strength to heal and fight.

We stood together side by side
The scrutiny and glare
Her words the shape of my words
Silence for the brave
Silence
Brave

I dream of us together
As once we used to be
Running wild across lush lands and hills
Arms wide, for we were free
I know there is a way for us
To blunt the sharpest thorns
So that we can reimagine
What might for us have been

And Scratch & Briar is about the cost. The long-term cost of such betrayals of trust and care. A wrong can be addressed but it can never be erased. We will heal but we will never be the people that we might have been if the wrong hadn’t happened in the first place. Scratch & Briar is a witnessing. And it is a celebration. Of our ability to heal. Of our ability to be brave. Of our ability to stand and be heard.

My sister’s in America
My blood runs in her veins
Her heart a branch of my heart
Gorse scratched and ruby briar

We stood together side by side
The scrutiny and glare
Her words the shape of my words
Silence for the brave
Silence
Brave