The second half of that poem/lyric in particular is
de profundis.
On this St. Patrick's Day, and with Patrick being Morrissey's (other) middle name, I’ll add to an item I posted in the 2022 Killarney tour date thread about a couple of possible origins of the Morrissey surname -
https://www.morrissey-solo.com/thre...2022-post-show.149958/page-14#post-1987479422
Geoffrey De Marisco also features in a book on the history of medieval Knights Templar and Hospitaller in Ireland called
Soldiers of Christ. Certain grades of these knights served the Crusades to the Holy Land, which lasted from the late 1100s to 1291, when Muslims ousted them from Israel. That of course brings a whole other perspective on what’s going on there now, incidentally.
Knights not gone off to fight held or acquired land, in part for the rest to come and go. On the bank of the river Maigue in Adare, County Limerick,
Desmond Castle was built around 1200 by this Anglo-Norman knight, Geoffrey De Marisco. He did not stay for long, after having an argument with the Bishop of Limerick. His go-getting life was significant enough to have been outlined in the
Dictionary of Irish Biographies. He interacted with quite a few of the other main movers in Irish history of the day.
Some suspect he was responsible for building
Nenagh Castle too. That link mentions St. John the Baptist
Church in Hospital, a village in Limerick, and a known settlement of the Knights Hospitaller. While Geoffrey De Marisco’s foundational role there in 1215 is not in dispute, there is not full agreement about the identity of the
effigual figure of a knight, with armour and shield, on a graveyard slab now leaning against the church wall. It is generally accepted though, that the middle figure in the
stained glass window panel of that church is meant to represent Geoffrey De Marisco, with Holy Land scenery in the background and the Maltese flag flying overhead (the knights' orders segued into the Order of Malta).
Therefore Morrissey is the end of a family line of knights in shining armour Q.E.D.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all!