My love she was fair, and my love she was kind
And cruel the judge and jury that sentenced her away
For thieving was a thing that she never was inclined to
They sent my love across the sea ten thousand miles away

Chorus:
All around my hat, I will wear the green willow
All around my hat for a year and a day
And if anyone should question me the reason for my wearing it
I'll tell them that my own true love is ten thousand miles away

I bought my love a golden ring to wear upon her finger
A token of our own true love and to remember me
And when she returns again, we never will be parted
We'll marry and be happy for ever and a day
Chorus

Seven, seven long years my love and I are parted
Seven, seven long years my love is bound to stay
Seven long years I'll love my love and never be false-hearted
And never sigh or sorrow while she's far, far away
Chorus

Some young men there are who are preciously deceitful
A-coaxin' of the fair young maids they mean to lead astray
As soon as they deceive them, so cruelly they leave them
I'll love my love forever though she's far, far away
Chorus

One evening fair as the sun was shining,
To Kilkenny I did ride,
I did meet with Captain Brady
a tall commander by his side.

Chorus
Then you are welcome Highland Paddy,
By my side you'll surely stand,
hear the people shout for freedom,
we'll rise in the morning with the Fenian band,
Rise in the morning with the Fenian band.

In the mornin' we rose early
Just before the break of dawn
blackbirds singing in the bushes
Greetings to a smiling morn.

Gather round me men of Ireland
Gather Fenians gather round
Hand to hand with sword and musket
Spill the blood upon this holy ground.

There's a glen beside the river
Just outside Kilkenny Town
There we met this noble captin
Men lay dead upon the ground.

Chorus

There's a grave beside the river
A mile outside Kilkenny Town
There we laid our noble captain
Birds were silent when this Fenian died

All my life I will remember
I'll remember night and day
That once I rode into Kilkenny
And I heard this noble captain say.

Chorus

The Wolfe Tones are in town tonight and here is one of their classic ballads.

There's a colleen fair as May
For a year and for a day
I have sought by ev'ry way
Her heart to gain.

There's no art of tongue or eye
Fond youths with maidens try,
But I've tried with ceaseless sigh,
Yet tried in vain.

If to far-off France or Spain
She crossed the raging main,
Her face to see again
The seas I'd brave.

But if 'tis Heaven's decree
That mine she may not be,
May the Son of Mary me
In mercy save.

We'll sing a song, a soldier's song,
With cheering rousing chorus,
As round our blazing fires we throng,
The starry heavens o'er us;
Impatient for the coming fight,
And as we wait the morning's light,
Here in the silence of the night,
We'll chant a soldier's song.

Chorus:

Soldiers are we
whose lives are pledged to Ireland;
Some have come
from a land beyond the wave.
Sworn to be free,
No more our ancient sire land
Shall shelter the despot or the slave.
Tonight we man the gap of danger
In Erin's cause, come woe or weal
'Mid cannons' roar and rifles peal,
We'll chant a soldier's song.

In valley green, on towering crag,
Our fathers fought before us,
And conquered 'neath the same old flag
That's proudly floating o'er us.
We're children of a fighting race,
That never yet has known disgrace,
And as we march, the foe to face,
We'll chant a soldier's song.

Chorus

Sons of the Gael! Men of the Pale!
The long watched day is breaking;
The serried ranks of Inisfail
Shall set the Tyrant quaking.
Our camp fires now are burning low;
See in the east a silv'ry glow,
Out yonder waits the Saxon foe,
So chant a soldier's song.

Chorus

A modern day song of resistance from rising star Damien Dempsey.

I sing the song of the colony
How many years and you're still not free
And your mother cries and you ask god why
Greed is the knife and the scars run deep
How many races with much reason to weep
And your children cry
And you ask god why

Annie, she came from Dunlavin Town
The TB came and killed her family all around
Population booms
Eleven in two rooms
Katie she came from down Townsend street
Ten in a bed and no shoes on their feet1916 came
They played the patriots game
Freddy, he came from the Iveagh flats
Tenement slums and infested with rats
Sleeping on damp straw
Trying not to break the law
Thomas, he came from Kilmaine in Mayo
Semi starvation was the only life you'd know
In a two room shack
Then jailed in Letterfrack
I look to the east, I look to the west
To the north and the south, and I'm not too impressed
Time after timeAfter crime after crime
They raped, robbed, pillaged, enslaved and murdered
Jesus Christ was their god and they done it in his name
So he could take the blame if it's not all a game
With bible in one hand and a sword in the other
They came to purify my land of my Gaelic Irish mothers
And fathers, and sisters and brothers
With our own ancient customs, laws, music, art
Way of life and cultureTribal in structure
We had a civilisationWhen they were still neanderthal nations
We suffer with the Native American, the Indian in Asia
Aboriginal Australia
The African people with their history so deep
And our children still weep and our lives are still cheap
You came from Germany, from France, from England
And from SpainFrom Belgium and from Portugal
You all done much the same
You took what was not yours
Went against your own bible
You broke your own laws
Just to out do the rival
But did you ever apologize
For the hundreds and millions of lives
You destroyed and terrorised
Or have you never realized
Did you never feel shame
For what was done in your country's name
And find out who's to blame and why they were so inhumane
And still they teach you in your school
About those glorious days of rule
And how it's your destiny to beSuperior to me
But if you've any kind of mind
You'll see that all human kind
Are the children of this earth
And your hate for them will chew you up and spit you out

You'll never kill our will to be free, to be free
You'll never kill our will to be free, to be free
You'll never kill our will to be free, to be free
Inside our minds we hold, hold the key

Well, I'm rumblin' in this JCB.
I'm 5 years old and my dad's a giant sitting beside me.
And the engine rattles my bum like berserk
While we're singin' , 'Don't forget your shovel if you want to go to work!'
My dad's probably had a bloody hard day
But he's been good fun and bubblin' and jokin' away
And the procession of cars stuck behind are gettin' all impatient and angry, but we dont mind.

An' we're holdin' up the bypass woah
Me and my dad havin' a top laugh oh-woah
I'm sittin' on the toolbox woah
And I'm so glad I'm not in school boss
So glad I'm not in school

Oh no and we pull over to let cars past
And pull off again, speedin' by the summer green grass
And we're like giants up here in our big yellow digger
Like zoids, or transformers, or maybe even bigger
And I wanna transform into a Tyrannosaurus Rex!
And eat up all the bullies and the teachers and their pets
And I'll tell all my mates that my dad's B.A. Baracus
Only with a JCB and Bruce Lee's nunchuckas

And We're holdin' up the bypass Woah
Me and my dad havin' a top laugh Oh whoa
I'm sittin' on the toolbox Oh
And I'm so glad I'm not in school boss
So glad I'm not in school

And we're holdin' up the bypass Oh
Me and my dad havin' a top laugh
Oh whoa I'm sittin' on the toolbox
Oh And I'm so glad I'm not in school boss
So glad I'm not in school -

Said I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee.
Drives me round in his JCB.
I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee.
Drives me round in his JCB.
I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee.
Drives me round in his JCB.
I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee.
Drives me round

And we're holdin' up the bypass
Whoa-Oh Me and my dad havin' a top laugh Oh-whoa
And I'm sittin' on the toolbox oh-oh
And I'm so glad I'm not in school boss
So glad I'm not in school

I said I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee.
Drives me round in his JCB.
I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee.
Drives me round in his Aw,
I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee.
Drives me round in his JCB.
I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee.
Drives me round in his JCB.

This graveyard hides a million secrets
And the trees know more than they can tell
The ghosts of the saints and scholars will haunt you
In heaven and in hell
Rattled by the glimmer man, the boogieman, holy man
Livin' in the shadows and the shadows of a gunman
Rattle like the coppers in your greasy till
Rattle til the time stood still
Look over your shoulder; hear the school bell ring
Another day of made-to-measure history
I don't care if your heroes have wings
Your terrible beauty's been torn

Faithful departed
We fickle hearted
As you are now
So once were we
Faithful departed
We the meek hearted
With graces imparted
Bring flowers to thee

The girls in the kips proclaim their love for you
When you stumbled in they knew you for a shilling or two
They curse you on Sundays and holy days
When you all stayed away
You slept there naked; light bulb hid your shame
The shadows on the wall they took all the blame
The sacred hearts picture compassion in his eyes
Drowned out the river of sighs
The grass grow green on the brewery tonight
Never come between the darkness and the light
There is no pain that can't be eased
By the devil's holy water and the rosary beads
You're a history book, I never could write
Poetry in paralysis too deep to recite
Bless yourself and dress yourself; you've won the fight
We're going to celebrate tonight
We'll even climbed the pillar like we always meant to
Watch the sun rise over the strand
Close our eyes and we'll pretend
It could somehow be the same again
I'll bury you upright so the sun doesn't blind you
You won't have to gaze at the rain and the stars
Sleep and dreams of chapels and bars
And whiskey in the jar

Faithful departed
Look what you started
An underdog's wounds
Aren't so easy to mend
Faithful departed
There's no broken hearted
And no more distress
In your world without end

The trees, they grow high, and the leaves, they do grow green
Many is the time my true love I've seen
Many an hour I watched him all alone
He's young but he's daily growing
Father, dear father, you've done me great wrong
You have married me to a boy who is too young
I am twice twelve and he is but fourteen
He's young but he's daily growing

Daughter, dear daughter, I've done you no wrong
I have married you to a great lord's son
And he will be a man for you when I am dead and gone
He's young but he's daily growing

Father, dear father, if you see fit
We'll send him to college for another year yet
I'll tie a blue ribbon all around his head
To let the maidens know that he is married
One day I was looking over my father's castle wall
I spied all the boys playing with a ball
And my own true love, he was the flower of them all
He's young but he's daily growing

And so early in the morning at the dawning of the day
They went into a hayfield for to have some sport and play
And what they did there she never would declare
But she never more complained of his growing
At the age of fourteen he was a married man
At the age of fifteen, the father of my son
At the age of sixteen, his grave, it was green
And death had put an end to his growing
I'll buy my love some flannel, I'll make my love a shroud
And every stitch I put in it, the tears, they'll pour down
And every stitch I put in it, how the tears, they will flow
Cruel fate has put an end to his growing

You look around, you say what's up
You see another Irishman taking to the 'sup
You see that's the way, that's the way they came

You look around, you say what's up
You see another Paddy and he taking to the 'sup
You see that's the way, that's the way they came

Take me out on the jar today
We'll drink stout and we'll be okay
We might get our holes tonight
We'll get in a fight alright

Brendan Behan was a friend of mine
He loved the bars and he drink cheap wine
Get outta his mind with a lad and lass
He'd ride them both and then go to mass

Shane McGowan loves Dublin town
I drank with him once and woke up on the ground
Maybe someday we'll meet up and do 'brunch'
Some beers and a shandy too

Luke Kelly meant a lot to me
He sang from in here and then swigged his beer
If ordering pints was a crime
He'd be in Mountjoy for eternity

Christy Moore was an awful hoor
He'd drink poteen 'til the bogs were clean
He brought me great joy since I was a boy
The day he went dry the publican cried

Take me out on the jar today
We'll drink stout and we'll be okay
We might get our holes tonight
We'll get in a fight alright

Take me out on the jar today

An Irish boy was leaving
Leaving his native home,
Crossing the broad Atlantic,
Once more he wished to roam,
And as he was leaving his mother,
While standing on the Quay,
He threw his arms around her waist
And this to her did say:

And as the years grow onward,
I'll settle down in life,
And I'll choose a nice young colleen,
And take her for my wife.
And as the kids grow older,
They'll play around my knee
And I'll teach them the very same lesson
That my mother taught to me:

Chorus:
A mother's love is a blessing,
No matter where you roam.
Keep her while she's living,
You'll miss her when she's gone.
Love her as in childhood,
When feeble, old and grey,
For you'll never miss a mother's love
'til she's buried beneath the clay.

I come old friend from hell tonight
Across the rotting sea
Nor the nails of the cross
Nor the blood of christ
Can bring you help this eve
The dead have come to claim a debt from thee
They stand outside your door
Four score and three

Did you keep a watch for the dead mans wind
Did you see the woman with the comb in her hand
Wailing away on the wall on the strand
As you danced to the turkish song of the damned

You remember when the ship went down
You left me on the deck
The captains corpse jumped up
And threw his arms around my neck
For all these years Ive had him on my back
This debt cannot be paid with all your jack

And as I sit and talk to you I see your face go white
This shadow hanging over me
Is no trick of the light
The spectre on my back will soon be free
The dead have come to claim a debt from thee

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow

Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

Uncle Rat went out to ride
Kitty alone, Kitty alone
Uncle Rat went out to ride
Kitty alone and I
Uncle Rat went out to ride
Sword and buckle by his side
Ma cax macari duck and a dil
Kitty alone and I
Lady Mouse, will marry me?
Kitty alone, Kitty alone
Lady Mouse, will marry me?
Kitty alone and I
Lady Mouse, will marry me?
Ask my Uncle Rat, says she
Ma cax macari duck and a dil
Kitty alone and I
Uncle Rat, will you marry Lady Mouse?
Kitty alone, Kitty alone
Uncle Rat, will you marry Lady Mouse?
Kitty alone and IUncle Rat, will you marry Lady Mouse?
Yes, kind sir, and half my house
Ma cax macari duck and a dil
Kitty alone and I
Lady Mouse, where will the wedding be?
Kitty alone, Kitty alone
Lady Mouse, where will the wedding be?
Kitty alone and I
Lady Mouse, where will the wedding be?
Ask my Uncle Rat, says she
Ma cax macari duck and a dil
Kitty alone and I
Uncle Rat, where will the wedding be?
Kitty alone, Kitty alone
Uncle Rat, where will the wedding be?
Kitty alone and I
Uncle Rat, where will the wedding be?
Up at the top of a holly tree
Ma cax macari duck and a dil
Kitty alone and I