We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork
 We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
 For the grand city hall in New York
 ?Twas an elegant craft, she was rigged fore and aft
 And how the wild wind drove her
 She could stand a great blast in her twenty seven masts
 And we called her the Irish Rover

 We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags
 We had two million barrels of stones
 We had three million sides of old blind horses hides
 We had four million barrels of bone
 We had five million hogs, six million dogs
 Seven million barrels of porter
 We had eight million bales of old nanny goats tails
 In the hold of the Irish Rover

 There was Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee
 There was Hogan from County Tyrone
 There was Johnny McGuirk who was scared stiff of work
 And a chap from Westmeath called Malone
 There was Slugger O?Toole who was drunk as a rule
 And fighting Bill Tracy from Dover
 There was Dolan from Clare, just as strong as a bear
 All aboard on the Irish Rover

 We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out
 And our ship lost it?s way in the fog
 Then the whole of the crew was reduced down to two
 Just myself and the captain?s old dog
 The ship struck a rock, Lord what a shock
 The boat it flipped right over
 Turned nine times around and the poor old dog was drowned
 I?m the last of the Irish Rover