Well on the Fourth of July 1806 

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 a wonderful craft, she was rigged for and aft 

And oh, how the wild wind drove her 

She stood several blasts, she had twenty-seven masts 

And they called her the Irish Rover 



Well we had one million bags of the best Sligo rags, 

We had two million barrels of stone 

We had three million bails of old nanny-goats' tails, 

We had four million barrels of bones 

We had five million hogs, and six million dogs, 

Seven million barrels of porter 

We had eight million bails of old nanny-goats' tails 

In the hold of the Irish Rover 



Well we had Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee, 

We had Hogan from County Tyrone 

And we had Jimmy McGurk who was scared stiff of work 

And a lad from Westmeath called Malone 

O we had Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule 

And Fighting Bill Treacy from Dover 

And your man, Mike McCann 

from the banks of the Bann 

Was the skipper on the Irish Rover 



Well a sailor he longs for a better life 

It's so lonesome by night and by day 

And he longs for the shore and a charming young whore 

Who'll make all his troubles away 

All the noise and the rout 

All the whiskey and stout 

The fighting it's never over 

Of the love of a maid he is never afraid 

It's all for the Irish Rover 



We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out 

And the ship lost it's way in the fog 

And that whale of a crew was reduced down to two, 

Just meself and the Captain's old dog 

Then the ship struck a rock, 

Oh Lord! What a shock, 

The bulkhead was turned right over 

Well it turned nine times around 

And the poor old dog was drowned 

Well I'm the last of the Irish Rover!