# In Time For Paddy's Day, What's Your Favourite Irish Song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124 "2007-03-16T01:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/21 "2007-03-16T03:36:40Z")
When I was a kid, we used to have Father Gallagher over for dinner every St. Patrick’s Day. From him, I learned, to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw”: There’s the Rotterdam Dutch And the Potterdam Dutch And the Amsterdam Dutch And the Goddamned Dutch. Hooray for the Irish! They ain’t very much But they’re a damned sight better Then the Goddamned Dutch. (And as a side note, my mom always favored Bushmills, but when she learned Bushmills was the Orange whiskey, she switched to Jamesons.) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/22 "2007-03-16T03:49:19Z")
[QUOTE=LifeOnWry] Sorry. I meant your correct username **OtakuLoki** , of course. Do we have an OtakiLou, or am I conflating people again? [/QUOTE] Don’t worry about it. 😃 I ignore anything that looks like an innocent slip with my name. I think I’m the only Otaku or Otaki on the board. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/23 "2007-03-16T03:51:46Z")
“Bottle Of Smoke”, The Pogues. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/24 "2007-03-16T03:54:57Z")
Is the folk song “She Moved Through The Fair” Scottish, English or Irish? Any origin, it’s the most beautiful song to ever emerge from the United Kingdom. In my humble opinion. Can I nominate _anything_ sung by Maura O’Connell, with special reference to the album **Wandering Home**? (Cues up “Irish Blues”…) ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/25 "2007-03-16T04:16:35Z")
_The Parting Glass_. The Clancy Bros and T. Makem have a lovely version but there are any number. I hope to have it sung at my funeral – as my moldering corpse is rolled out. Oh, all the money that e’er I spent I spent it in good company, And all the friends that e’er I had Are sorry for to see me go, And all the girls that e’re I had Would wish me one more day to stay. And so it’s fall’n Unto to my lot That I must rise And you should not, I’ll quietly rise and softly go. Good night and joy be with you all. Or something like that, more or less. I don’t think my widow wold stand for it, however. It’s hard to say one song – there are rebel songs, and drinking songs, and sad love songs and songs of exile and immigration, and songs that are just fun (Finnigan’s Wake), and bad marriage songs, and spinster’s hard fate songs, and Lord alone knows what else. Some bring a lump to the throat, some bring a smile and some a stronger set to the jaw. Castles are sacked in war, Chieftains are scattered far, Love is a fix’d star, Eileen Aroo. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/26 "2007-03-16T04:25:32Z")
Nobody’s mentioned my top picks: [Are Ye Right There Michael](http://ingeb.org/songs/areyerig.html) (about the perils of taking the train from Ennis to Kilkee) and [Slattery’s Mounted Fut](http://incolor.inetnebr.com/jskean/fut.htm) (about a singularly inept fighting[?] force). In general I prefer songs in which the Irish make fun of themselves to maudlin tripe such as “Mother Macree” (gak). And lest you doubt my credentials, let’s just say that there’s a very famous cow in my pedigree — probably not a direct relation, but the name’s what matters. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/27 "2007-03-16T04:32:27Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] Is the folk song “She Moved Through The Fair” Scottish, English or Irish? Any origin, it’s the most beautiful song to ever emerge from the United Kingdom. In my humble opinion. Can I nominate _anything_ sung by Maura O’Connell, with special reference to the album **Wandering Home**? (Cues up “Irish Blues”…) [/QUOTE] I think _She Moved Through the Fair_ is Irish. However if the [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Moved_Through_the_Fair) explanation of its origins are accurate then it highlights the problem with traditional songs and claiming origin for them. It seems to be Irish in origin, was published in England, but has been played by a variety of musicians from Ireland, Britain and elsewhere. It can be tricky to attribute certain songs with unknown precise origins and the air or lyrics or part thereof having travelled across Ireland and Britain. Certain airs have had lyrics attached to them in various countries, so Scotland’s Loch Lomond becomes Red is The Rose in Ireland but is also sung here (in Ireland) as Loch Lomond. There are also foreign songs that have become parts of the traditional repertoire such as The Lakes of Pontchartrain and latterly songs played by Irish-American bands that are claimed as Irish but wouldn’t be thought of so here, such as What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor and the like. Anyway there’s my rant over. I hope this made some sense. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/28 "2007-03-16T04:43:01Z")
My two favorites are: _Caidé Sin Do’n Té Sin_ by Clannad _Casadh An tSugain_ by The Bothy Band … and I don’t have the slightest idea what either song is about. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/29 "2007-03-16T04:55:11Z")
Tim Finnegan’s Wake Wow, it’s hard to pick one, but that was the first that came to mind when I thought of “my favorite.” ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/30 "2007-03-16T06:13:36Z")
More good ones: Fields of Athenry Back Home In Derry Elf-Knight Star of the County Down Rocky Road to Dublin Foggy Dew Courtin’ in the Kitchen Brennan on the Moor Dirty Old Town Bold O’Donahue Kilkelly Dicey Riley ---
**Author:** ![Daylight\_Saving](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Daylight\_Saving](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylight_Saving)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/31 "2007-03-16T06:39:39Z")
I’m the first to say Give Ireland back To The Irish? irish smilies :rolleyes: 😛😃 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/32 "2007-03-16T06:47:46Z")
Carrickfergus and Ride On, and Come out ye Black & Tans, all of which I shall be singing at my friend’s Paddy’s Day party tomorrow, after we watch Ireland win the Six Nations. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/33 "2007-03-16T06:56:26Z")
I remember the words to a song I learned when I was a kid, but I don’t think I ever knew the title. \*In Dublin’s fair city Where the girls are so pretty, I first laid my eyes on sweet Molly Malone. She wheeled her wheelbarrow Through streets broad and narrow, Singin’ “Cockels and mussels, alive, alive O.”\* I still remember the melody and the last verse. Another Irish song that I performed once a number of years ago is MacNamara’s Band. \*Oh, the drums go bang and the cymbals clang And the horns they blaze away. McCarthy plays the old bazoon, while I the pipes do play. Hennesy Tennnesy tootles the flute And the music is something grand. A credit to Old Ireland Is MacNamara’s band!\* I can say there’s a wee bit o’ the Irish in me, but it needs fortifyin’ with a little Bushmill’s from time to time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/34 "2007-03-16T12:35:29Z")
The entire cast recording of [The Beautiful Game](http://www.stlyrics.com/t/thebeautifulgame.htm). Tomorrow, I will listen to the Hungarian version for the first time, which of course makes absolutely no sense. 😛 A SUBLIME ETERNAL TUNE, TO THE RHYTHMS OF THE MOON. THESE ANCIENT CHORDS WERE FORMED IN THE BEGINNING, AND THEY SING TO ME “MY COUNTRY RIGHT OR WRONG”. THESE ARE SONGS WE ALWAYS SANG, NO ONE KNOWS WHEN THEY BEGAN. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/35 "2007-03-16T12:44:34Z")
The _Fairytale of New York_ by the Pogues and _Tessie_ by Dropkick Murphys (but that’s not really Irish) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/36 "2007-03-16T12:52:10Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] “Black Velvet Band” by The Irish Rovers. [/QUOTE] I really like that one. I once heard a gentlemen in Denver, CO on St. Patrick’s Day walking down the street with his lady break into “Molly Malone” in a beautiful tenor voice. People just stopped and listened. It was wonderful. I think that one is now my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/37 "2007-03-16T13:54:36Z")
**Mary Mack’s Mother** and **Rattlin Bog** are both great sing alongs. I don’t really know the names of many Irish songs, but these are two that are sung regularly at our local pub. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/38 "2007-03-16T13:59:48Z")
[QUOTE=Lucky 13] “Whisky in the Jar”. There’s a song I like by Thin Lizzy that I think is called “The Black Rose”. I wish I could remember if that was the exact name. [/QUOTE] It’s called _Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) A Rock Legend_ from the album Black Rose. Thin Lizzy has a ton of good songs with a good Irish feel to them. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/39 "2007-03-16T14:08:31Z")
It doesn’t get more powerful than Luke Kelly singing On Raglan Road. He was a mate of my Da’s. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qb0u_LWU_Y) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124/40 "2007-03-16T14:16:54Z")
Seriously chaps, if you haven’t heard Luke’s version then click on that link. One of the great voices of our time. RIP Luke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-time-for-paddys-day-whats-your-favourite-irish-song/396124.md?page=3)