The Irish Rover

"The Irish Rover" is an Irish folk song about a magnificent though improbable sailing ship that reaches an unfortunate end. It has been recorded by numerous artists, some of whom have made changes to the lyrics over time.

This article is about the folk song. For the band, see The Irish Rovers.

"The Irish Rover"
Single by The Pogues and The Dubliners
B-side"The Rare Old Mountain Dew"
ReleasedMarch 1987
Format7" and 12" Vinyl
GenreCeltic rock
Length3:39
Songwriter(s)Traditional
The Pogues singles chronology
"Haunted"
(1986)		 "The Irish Rover"
(1987)		 "Fairytale of New York"
(1987)

The song describes a gigantic ship with "twenty-seven masts", a colourful crew and varied types of cargo in enormous amounts. The verses grow successively more extravagant about the wonders of the great ship. The seven-year voyage comes to a disastrous end when the ship sinks. The narrator becomes the only survivor, "the last of the Irish Rover", leaving no one else alive to contradict the tale.

History

According to the 1966 publication Walton's New Treasury of Irish Songs and Ballads 2, the song is attributed to songwriter/arranger J. M. Crofts.[1]

Cargo

The song details a cargo of the fictional ship which betrays the story to be heavily embellished. The lyrics vary from rendition to rendition, but typically note that the cargo of the Irish Rover included -

  • Bricks (undefined quantity)
  • Bales of old billy goats' tails (1 million)
  • Buckets of stones (2 million)
  • Blind horses' hides (3 million)
  • Packets of bones (4 million)
  • Hogs (5 million)
  • Dogs (6 million)
  • Whores (6 million)[2]
  • Barrels of porter (7 million)
  • Bags of the best Sligo rags (8 million)

Characters

The song does not explicitly mention how many sailors were on board when they set sail, but the following characters are mentioned along with a notable attribute:

  • Mickey Coote - played the flute
  • Barney McGee - from the banks of the Lee
  • Hogan - from County Tyrone
  • Johnny McGurk - has a strong aversion to work
  • Malone - a man from Westmeath
  • Slugger O'Toole - was perpetually drunk
  • Bill Tracey - a fighter from Dover
  • Mick McCann - from the banks of the Bann, was the skipper
  • The Captain's dog
  • The singer - the last sailor living of the Irish Rover

Charts

(The Pogues & The Dubliners single)

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[3] 1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[4] 8
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[5] 25

Cultural impact
  • "The Irish Rover" is one of the most popular Irish-Gaelic Scottish country dances and is set to the music of the song.
  • The Irish Rovers, created in 1963, were named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover" by their mother in Ballymena, N. Ireland. They first recorded the song on their 1966 debut album, The First of the Irish Rovers.
  • Slugger O'Toole – a character referred to in "The Irish Rover" has been adopted as the name of a major political website in Northern Ireland.
  • In issue 26 of DC/Vertigo series Preacher, when Cassidy describes his drinking buddies in New York City, the names are all taken from the Irish Rover.

Recordings

"The Irish Rover" has been recorded many times. Versions are listed below by notable artists in chronological order.

References
  1. James Prescott (3 February 2014). "James Prescott - Folk Song Index In - Je". Telusplanet.net. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnHx6peWjlY
  3. "Chart Track: Week 00, 1967". Irish Singles Chart.
  4. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  5. "Charts.nz – The Dubliners Man – Maids When You're Young". Top 40 Singles.
  6. "Dominic Behan - The Irish Rover (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
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