Irish Rover
Louis Killen/The Clancy Brothers Lyrics

In the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and six,
On a specific year, 1806, according to the Christian era,

We set sail from the Coal Quay of Cork
We departed from a harbor, called Coal Quay of Cork,

We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
We were carrying bricks as our load while sailing away,

For the grand City Hall in New York
Our destination, New York City Hall, required us to deliver the bricks.

We'd an elegant craft, it was rigged 'fore and aft
Our ship was a beautiful and well-built vessel, equipped with sails all ovewr,

And how the trade winds drove her
We sailed at a swift speed due to the favor of natural trade wind

She had twenty-three masts and she stood several blasts
Our vessel had 23 masts that could withstand strong winds,

And they called her the Irish Rover
Our ship was named the Irish Rover by people,

There was Barney Magee from the banks of the Lee
The crew comprised of Barney Magee, who hailed from the bank of River Lee,

There was Hogan from County Tyrone
Hogan was from the County of Tyrone,

There was Johnny McGurk who was scared stiff of work
One of the crew members named Johnny McGurk, was frightened to work,

And a chap from Westmeath named Malone
A man from Westmeath by the name Malone, joined the crew on board,

There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule
Slugger O'Toole had a habit of drinking alcohol excessively,

And fighting Bill Tracy from Dover
Another member of the crew, Bill Tracy, from Dover, was notorious for dispute,

And your man Mick McCann, from the banks of the Bann
The captain or the skipper was Mick McCann, from the Bann riverbank,

Was the skipper on the Irish Rover
Mick McCann was the leader of the ship, Irish Rover,

We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags
The ship smuggled one million high-quality Sligo rags in bags,

We had two million barrells of bone
The cargo consisted of two million bone-filled barrels,

We had three million bales of old nanny goats' tails
Three million bales of old nannies' goats' tails where also shipped,

We had four million barrells of stone
Four million barrels of stone filled some part of the ship,

We had five million hogs and six million dogs
The ship was transporting five million hogs and six million dogs,

And seven million barrells of porter
About seven million barrels of porter were part of the cargo too,

We had eight million sides of old blind horses' hides
Finally, eight million sides of aged blind horses' hides were part of our load.

In the hold of the Irish Rover
All the cargo mentioned was tightly packed in the ship's hold.

We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out
After sailing for precisely seven years, the crew was hit by a measles outbreak,

And our ship lost her way in a fog
The ship lost direction and became stranded in thick fog,

And the whole of the crew was reduced down to two
The entire crew was dramatically brought down to just two members,

'Twas myself and the captain's old dog
The two members were myself and the captain's old rowdy dog,

Then the ship struck a rock, oh, Lord what a shock
Shipwreck occurred where the vessel hit a rock, a horrific shock for all,

And nearly tumbled over
The ship almost capsized,

Turned nine times around then the poor old dog was drowned
There was chaos, and the ship rotated nine times. Sadly, the captain's poor old dog drowned,

I'm the last of the Irish Rover
The artist is the last surviving crew member of the Irish Rover shipwreck.