The Rifles Of The Ira Lyrics

The Rifles Of The Ira lyrics

In nineteen hundred and sixteen

 The forces of the crown

 For to take Orange, White, and Green

 Bombarded Dublin Town

 But in '21, Britannia's sons

 Were forced earn their pay, when

 The black and tans, like lightening ran

 From the Rifles of the IRA!

 

 They burned their way through Munster

 Then laid Leinster on the rack

 Through Connacht, and through Ulster

 Marched the men in brown and black

 They shot down wives and children

 In their own heroic way, but

 The black and tans, like lightening ran

 From the Rifles of the IRA!

 

 They hanged young Kevin Barry high

 Just a lad of eighteen years

 Cork City's flames lit up in the sky

 

 But our brave lads new no fear

 The Cork brigade with hand-grenades

 In ambush wait and lay, and

 The black and tans, like lightening ran

 From the Rifles of the IRA!

 

 The tans were got, taken out and shot

 By a brave and valiant few

 Sean Treacy, Dinny Lacey

 And Tom Barry's gallant crew

 Though we're not free yet

 We won't forget

 Until our dying day, how

 The black and tans, like lightening ran

 From the Rifles of the IRA!