Let me tell you the story of a girl called Eva
Married this Norman dude, a.k.a. Strongbow
On their b***** honeymoon, they reached the conclusion
The Gaelic nation is just an illusion
Just a bunch of sacrilegious sheep-s******" minions
At least, that was the English pope"s opinion
'Go forth, Strongbow, reform the Irish Church
And if you conquer the country, well such is life.'
The Irish bogtrotters didn"t like this idea
They had an arcane notion "bout the benefits of freedom
Resisted fiercely with cudgel and spade
"Til they were run off the land by the Papal Jihad
Those who came to terms with foreign domination
Learned to speak English it beat starvation
The rest humped turf out in the country
Dreamed of Riverdance and comin" prosperity
Sit you down, sit you down
Let"s talk about battles lost but never won
That"s the history of Ireland, Part One.
The years passed by, kings and auld pontiffs too
"Til up in the North arose two men called Hugh
O"Donnell and O"Neill from Donegal and Tyrone
Asked the King of Spain to kick the English home
But they got psyched out at the Battle of Kinsale
The Spanish Armada took a dive in the rain
O"Neill found Jesus with the Pope in Rome
And the Brits poisoned Red Hugh"s sangria in Spain
A lot of things happened, I"ll slip over them fast
A lot of little battles, guess what? We lost!
Let England fight its own wars if you please
"Cause getting Ollie Cromwell p***** off was not a good idea
He scorched our a***s with his burnin" cross
Introduced us to sectarianism
Banished our youth to the Jamaican fields
That"s why Bob Marley sings those Gaelic melodies.
But we don"t give up easy, less sense than courage
We backed Jimmy Stewart "stead of Willie from Orange
Oh, man, that was our biggest mistake
Just think what we could be doin" today
Every 12th of July we"d beat the lambeg drum
Marchin" up the Falls to a tum-tum-tum
While over tn the Shankhill they"d be sayin" the rosary
Listenin" to us sing the Sash Me Father Wore before
We heard all about the French Revolution
Yippee! No kings no future!
Cut our hair like the citizens in Paree
The Wexford Croppy was like the accessory
But the traitor"s kiss was our best fashion
Lord Eddie Fitzgerald got the English hatchet
We followed Father Murphy through hell and high water
Into excommunication on a hill in Enniscorthy.
Then they stuck us with the Penal Laws
What a break! They hung all our lawyers
And doctors and teachers and fathers of the church
And if they caught you ridin" they"d steal your auld horse
"Til Randy Dan O"Connell emancipated us
But we didn"t take no time to celebrate because
Black "47 killed off half of the country
So we split for Liverpool, Australia and America.
Those of us left were a sad old bunch
Beaten down by the state and the church
Afraid of our lives of divine retribution
Oh, the bishops didn"t want any more of that auld revolution
When Charlie Parnell got the drop on Gladstone
We had Home Rule for the takin"
But we stabbed him in the back over Catherine O"Shea
And we"re still feelin" the pain to this very day.
1916, 1921, you all know the story and I"m sick of goin" on
This Irish History is just a pain in the a***
Poor old James Connolly wouldn"t know what to make of us
"Cause now were Europeans we get our orders form Brussels
Don"t need no more of that Irish Republican muscle
The ghosts of Pearse, Tone, Emmet and McDermott
All waltzin off into a Celtic Tiger sunset
Sit you down, sit you down
Let"s talk about battles lost but never won
That"s the history of Ireland, Part One
And we"re still countin"
The history of Ireland, Part One
'Time now, gentlemen, please! Ah, come on now, lads...'
Married this Norman dude, a.k.a. Strongbow
On their b***** honeymoon, they reached the conclusion
The Gaelic nation is just an illusion
Just a bunch of sacrilegious sheep-s******" minions
At least, that was the English pope"s opinion
'Go forth, Strongbow, reform the Irish Church
And if you conquer the country, well such is life.'
The Irish bogtrotters didn"t like this idea
They had an arcane notion "bout the benefits of freedom
Resisted fiercely with cudgel and spade
"Til they were run off the land by the Papal Jihad
Those who came to terms with foreign domination
Learned to speak English it beat starvation
The rest humped turf out in the country
Dreamed of Riverdance and comin" prosperity
Sit you down, sit you down
Let"s talk about battles lost but never won
That"s the history of Ireland, Part One.
The years passed by, kings and auld pontiffs too
"Til up in the North arose two men called Hugh
O"Donnell and O"Neill from Donegal and Tyrone
Asked the King of Spain to kick the English home
But they got psyched out at the Battle of Kinsale
The Spanish Armada took a dive in the rain
O"Neill found Jesus with the Pope in Rome
And the Brits poisoned Red Hugh"s sangria in Spain
A lot of things happened, I"ll slip over them fast
A lot of little battles, guess what? We lost!
Let England fight its own wars if you please
"Cause getting Ollie Cromwell p***** off was not a good idea
He scorched our a***s with his burnin" cross
Introduced us to sectarianism
Banished our youth to the Jamaican fields
That"s why Bob Marley sings those Gaelic melodies.
But we don"t give up easy, less sense than courage
We backed Jimmy Stewart "stead of Willie from Orange
Oh, man, that was our biggest mistake
Just think what we could be doin" today
Every 12th of July we"d beat the lambeg drum
Marchin" up the Falls to a tum-tum-tum
While over tn the Shankhill they"d be sayin" the rosary
Listenin" to us sing the Sash Me Father Wore before
We heard all about the French Revolution
Yippee! No kings no future!
Cut our hair like the citizens in Paree
The Wexford Croppy was like the accessory
But the traitor"s kiss was our best fashion
Lord Eddie Fitzgerald got the English hatchet
We followed Father Murphy through hell and high water
Into excommunication on a hill in Enniscorthy.
Then they stuck us with the Penal Laws
What a break! They hung all our lawyers
And doctors and teachers and fathers of the church
And if they caught you ridin" they"d steal your auld horse
"Til Randy Dan O"Connell emancipated us
But we didn"t take no time to celebrate because
Black "47 killed off half of the country
So we split for Liverpool, Australia and America.
Those of us left were a sad old bunch
Beaten down by the state and the church
Afraid of our lives of divine retribution
Oh, the bishops didn"t want any more of that auld revolution
When Charlie Parnell got the drop on Gladstone
We had Home Rule for the takin"
But we stabbed him in the back over Catherine O"Shea
And we"re still feelin" the pain to this very day.
1916, 1921, you all know the story and I"m sick of goin" on
This Irish History is just a pain in the a***
Poor old James Connolly wouldn"t know what to make of us
"Cause now were Europeans we get our orders form Brussels
Don"t need no more of that Irish Republican muscle
The ghosts of Pearse, Tone, Emmet and McDermott
All waltzin off into a Celtic Tiger sunset
Sit you down, sit you down
Let"s talk about battles lost but never won
That"s the history of Ireland, Part One
And we"re still countin"
The history of Ireland, Part One
'Time now, gentlemen, please! Ah, come on now, lads...'