Harry McCarthy (aka Macarthy) was a songwriter from Ulster, where he became a variety entertainer and comedian in the mid 19th century. In 1861 he wrote the song "The Bonnie Blue Flag

The Bonnie Blue Flag

"The Bonnie Blue Flag", also known as "We Are a Band of Brothers", is an 1861 marching song associated with the Confederate States of America. The words were written by Irish born entertainer Harry McCarthy, with the melody taken from the song "The Irish Jaunting Car"...

," about the unofficial first Confederate flag

Flags of the Confederate States of America

There were only three flag designs adopted, with later, minor variants made to those designs, that served as the official national flags of the Confederate States of America and used during its existence from 1861 to 1865...

, using the tune from "The Irish Jaunting Car." The song was extremely popular, rivaling "Dixie

Dixie (song)

Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular. Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point...

" as a Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 anthem. The song lost some of its popularity when, late in the war, McCarthy left the South for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

.