Rifles of the I.R.A.

In nineteen hundred and sixteen The forces of the crown For to take Orange, White, and Green Bombarded Dublin Town But in '21, Britannia's sons Were forced earn their pay, when The black and tans, like lightening ran From the Rifles of the IRA! They burned their way through Munster Then laid Leinster on the rack Through Connacht, and through Ulster Marched the men in brown and black They shot down wives and children In their own heroic way, but The black and tans, like lightening ran From the Rifles of the IRA! They hanged young Kevin Barry high Just a lad of eighteen years Cork City's flames lit up in the sky But our brave lads new no fear The Cork brigade with hand-grenades In ambush wait and lay, and The black and tans, like lightening ran From the Rifles of the IRA! The tans were got, taken out and shot By a brave and valiant few Sean Treacy, Dinny Lacey And Tom Barry's gallant crew Though we're not free yet We won't forget Until our dying day, how The black and tans, like lightening ran From the Rifles of the IRA!