Your Perfect Irish Playlist For St Paddy’s Day

From traditional classics to modern greats, each of these songs represents a piece of Irish culture and will get everyone on their feet!

Steve Earl – Galway Girl:
One of the most popular songs to emerge from Irish culture ever, written about beautiful women in one of Irelands most beautiful cities. Despite its Irish links the song was actually written by American Steve Earl while he was living in Ireland and soaking up all the traditional music on offer. Rumor also has it the song is based on a real woman that Steve is still in contact with.

The Pogues -Fairytale of New York:
Arguably one of the most famous Irish songs ever written, it is usually put aside for two days of the year; Christmas eve and St Patrick’s day. Written by Shane McGowan the lead singer of the group, however, the song was not complete until he found the angelic vocals of Kirsty McColl to accompany his own Irish punk sound. Play this anywhere on St Paddy’s day and the whole room will know the worlds.

Irish Rovers- The Orange and The Green:
A traditional Irish folksong that tells to story of a Northern Irish man whose father was a Protestant (Orange) and his mother was a Catholic (Green). It describes a confusing upbringing that was the product of religious intermarriage at a time where religious tensions were at an all time high. This song puts a comic twist on the troubles and was originally written by Anthony Murphy. We recommend the Irish Rovers versions if you want to have a proper sing and dance.

The Dubliners – Molly Malone
Set in Dublin, this song has become a sort of unofficial anthem of the City. With a Molly Malone statue even being unveiled on Grafton Street in 1998. The song tells a tale of a gorgeous fishmonger who made her living on the streets of Dublin, but whose life was cut short due to fever. When the opening verse of “In Dublin’s fair City. Where the girls are so pretty” comes on if there’s a Dubliner in sight you’ll be sure to hear them roaring the lyrics back at you. We have chosen the Dubliners version of this one because of the songs ties to the Capital.

https://youtu.be/vdxLxnhGnvo

Corrigan Brothers – There’s no one as Irish as Barack Obama

This is the most recently written song of this list, a song that was created by Co. Limerick based group The Corrigan Brothers. The song talks about Barack Obamas links to Moneygall Co. Offaly and turned out to be a huge hit on Youtube. One of the funnier songs on this list, play this and you’re sure to get a few laughs!

The Wolfe Tones – Come out Ye Black and Tans
This rebel song refers to the Black and Tans, the British paramilitary police force in Ireland during the 1920’s. Dominic Behan originally wrote the song, but authorship is often attributed to his father Stephen, who the song was written for.

John McCormack – It’s a long way to Tipperary

Originally written by Jack Judge for a 5 shilling bet in 1912 and performed the next night at a local music hall, the song then became popular amongst soldiers in the First World Ward and the Boer Wars. The song tells the story of a man trying to get home to Tipperary, to find the woman he loves. With lyrics like “Goodbye Picadilly, farewell Leicester Square, It’s a long way to Tipperary but my heart lies there” this song is sure to go down well in any room on St Patrick’s day.

So there you have it, glam up in green and enjoy the Irish party spirit!