Mo chara is mo lao thu!

 (My friend and my calf)

Is aisling trí néallaibh

 (A vision in dream)

Do deineadh aréir dom

 (Was revealed to me last night)

IgCorcaigh go déanach

 (In Cork, a late hour)

Ar leaba im aonar

 (In my solitary bed)



I remember you back in the GPO with Connolly and Clarke 

Laughin' with McDermott through the bullets and the sparks 

Always with the smart remark, your eyes blazin' and blue 

But when we needed confidence we always turned to you 

And when they shot our leaders up against Kilmainham wall 

You were there beside us in that awful Easter dawn 

Hey, big fellah..........where the hell are you now 

When we need you the most 

Hey, big fellah..........c'mon 



Tabhair dom do lámh

 (Give me your hand)



Back on the streets of Dublin when we fought the black and tans 

You were there beside us, a towerin' mighty man 

And God help the informer or the hated English spy 

By Jaysus, Mick, you'd crucify them without the blinkin' of an eye 

Still you had a heart as soft as the early mornin' dew 

Every widow, whore and orphan could always turn to you 

We beat them in the cities and we whipped them in the streets 

And the world hailed Michael Collins, our commander and our chief 

And they sent you off to London to negotiate a deal 

And to gain us a republic, united, boys, and real 

But the women and the drink, Mick, they must have got to you 

'Cause you came back with a country divided up in two 



We had to turn against you, Mick, there was nothin' we could do 

'Cause we couldn't betray the republic like Arthur Griffith and you 

We fought against each other, two brothers steeped in blood 

But I never doubted that your heart was broken in the flood 

And though we had to shoot you down in golden Béal na Blath 

I always knew that Ireland lost her greatest son of all