On the fourth of July, eighteen hundred and six,
We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork
We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
For the grand City Hall in New York
'Twas a wonderful craft, she was rigged 'fore and aft
And how the wild winds drove her
She 'stood several blasts, she had twenty-three masts
And they called her the Irish Rover

We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags
We had two million barrels of stones
We had three million bales of old nanny goats' tails
We had four million barrels of bones
We had five million hogs and six million dogs
And seven million barrels of porter
We had eight million sides of old blind horses' hides
In the hold of the Irish Rover

There was awl Mickey Coote
Who played hard on his flute
When the ladies lined up for a set
He was tootin' with skill
For each sparkling quadrille
Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet
With his smart witty talk
He was cock of the walk
And he rolled the dames under and over
They all knew at a glance
When he took up his stance
That he sailed in The Irish Rover

(bridge)

There was Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee
There was Hogan from County Tyrone
There was Johnny McGurk who was scared stiff of work
And a man from Westmeath called Malone
There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule
And fighting Bill Tracy from Dover
And your man Mick McCann, from the banks of the Bann
Was the skipper on the Irish Rover

For a sailor it's always a bother in life
It's so lonesome by night and day
That he longs for the shore
And a pretty young whore
Who will melt all his troubles away
Oh, the noise and the rout
Swillin' poitin and stout
For him soon the torment's over
Of the love of a maid
He is never afraid
An old salt from the Irish Rover

We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out
And our ship lost her way in the fog
And the whole of the crew was reduced down to two
'Twas meself and the captain's old dog
Then the ship struck a rock; oh Lord what a shock
The bulkhead was turned right over
We turned nine times around - then the poor old dog was drowned
I'm the last of the Irish Rover

Ah, how I love hearing the trills of the penny whistle. Whene'er ye hear that, there's a good chance you'll be hearin' some music from the Emerald Isle.

Awesome song, on any given night out you could get a sing-song of this going in any pub in Ireland. The city boys may pretend to be all tongue in cheek, they'll still sing along.
Noticed some of Shane McGowan's lyrics seem a bit jumbled though.

But great post!

man, i love the pogues! their lead singer has since lost all of his front teeth.

*celtic

Adding video to channels (Celtic) - requested by Fusionaut.