Who is Nancy Mulligan?

Since 2017, when the third Ed Sheeran album, “Divide” was released, I’ve been obsessed with every single song. I think in comparison with the second one, this album seems to be more heartfelt. I only know Ed Sheeran as an artist, but not personally. However, by listening to his songs, you can tell the difference between a song that appears to be more personal and a song created for the sake of entertainment.

Especially in his love songs. Whereas songs from the second album seem to be generic in its lyrics, the third album includes songs that appear to be written about real people.

Personally, I believe the third album was a sort of redemption from his second album. Each song seems to be written for a specific person and not to fit the audience in general. “Multiply”, although moving and beautiful, was not as impactful as “Plus” or “Divide”. I have memorized every single song from “Divide” since then. Although they all tell different stories, the one that sticks with me the most is a song called “Nancy Mulligan.”

This song is not only named after Sheeran’s grandmother, but tells the love story she began with his grandfather, William Sheeran.

In an interview from 2017 for Zane Lowe, a radio DJ of Apple Music from New Zealand, Sheeran shared a few words about the song.

“One was Protestant and from Belfast and one was Catholic from southern Ireland. They got engaged, and no one turned up to the wedding. He melted all his gold teeth in his dental surgery and melted them down into a wedding ring. They wore borrowed clothes to get married and had this sort of Romeo and Juliet romance, which is like the most romantic thing.”

Sheeran’s statement says it all: a heartwarming love story caught in the ripple of History. However, the song’s historical context might’ve gone unnoticed by Sheeran’s regular listeners. The tones of the song follow those of an Irish Folk tune, which set the scene about where the story took place.

Ireland has been in an endless “feud” since the Anglo-Norman invasion in the late 12th century.

Norman invaders learned the culture and language and taught their Catholic religion, while the United Kingdom spread its Protestant belief. The difference between these two religious implementations is that Ireland had been catholic since the 5th century, while the UK became protestant in16th century. A missionary known as Saint Patrick introduced Catholicism to Ireland. Catholicism soon then became the central religion of the Emerald Isle. When the Normans invaded Ireland, they reinforced this religion. By the 16th century when U.K. tried to make Ireland protestant, the island already had strong roots in Catholicism. London created its own laws for Ireland to prohibit and reduce the power Normans could have on the island. Protestants kept the North of Ireland. During the 17th

Century, religious-based laws were implemented. Catholics and protestants could not be married or have any relations of the sort.

Following the story in Ed Sheeran’s song, William Sheeran was from Northern Ireland, which was under the U.K. power by the time WWII took place and Nancy Mulligan from Southern Ireland. By the time the songs says they met, Southern Ireland wasn’t the Republic it is today. Still, it was already considered independent from the U.K.

The lyrics read that he met her at Guy’s when she was in a soldier’s ward. Soldiers were sent there when they were wounded during WWII. The Northern Irish enlisted for the war while the Southern were there to provide money to their families. It is assumed William arrived at the hospital as a soldier and met Mulligan while she worked there as a nurse. As their time as lovers, William dubbed Nancy Mulligan with an endearing term: “yellow rose.” Although roses are not currently a symbol of Ireland, they used to be during the time Ireland wasn’t a Republic under British eyes. The color yellow is usually associated with happiness or joy. So, by this phrase, Ed Sheeran must be talking how as a southerner, she was full of joy and happiness. Proving that her precedence didn’t make her any different. Their love wasn’t accepted because it was considered ‘taboo’ in the eyes of the law. Even though the Penal laws established in the 17th century were vetoed entirely by 1829, people got used to rejecting one another.

According to a prerecorded interview with RTÉ’s Late Late Show, Sheeran’s grandfather was a royalist.

“My grandfather was a huge, huge royalist, and loved the royal family, had commemorative plates and shit. He was bang into it. He sadly passed away in 2013, but

when the MBE came in, I remember being with my Dad and being like, ‘ah shit, wouldn’t it be cool if granddad was alive now to see this’” Sheeran said.

Even though William Sheeran was in love with his homeland, he decided to run away with the woman he loved all the way to Wexford. Wexford is the upper part of the southern border of the island.

In the interview with Zane Lowe, Sheeran said that he was advised to avoid any talk involving controversies.

“My dad said getting in the music industry is like you never mention politics, you never mention religion, and you never get involved in other’s people battles,” Sheeran said. However, the opposite comes to light with “Nancy Mulligan.” On the last verse of the song before the chorus establishes that William was from Northern Ireland and that he didn’t care if he loved someone from the south. It seems as though Sheeran is building a bridge between North and South Ireland. Such a song isn’t only done out of love for his grandparents’, but to stop a war that is based on the illusion that they’re different.

The conflict between Northern Ireland and the Republic hasn’t stopped. They are not at war, but there´s still a lot of tension within the island. I think the song is intended to prove that there´s no difference between Irish people, no matter which part they are from.

Although William Sheeran passed away in 2013, his love for his wife lives on through the legacy of this song.