The Rifles of the IRA

The Rifles of the IRA is an Irish rebel song. It is recorded by The Wolfe Tones.

Lyrics

In nineteen hundred and sixteen
The forces of the crown
To capture the orange,white and green,
Bombarded Dublin Town
But in '21, Brittania's sons
Were forced to earn their pay,
When the Black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the rifles of the IRA!

They burned their way through Munster
And laid Leinster on the rack
In Connaught and then Ulster
Marched those men of brown and black
They shot down wives and children
In their own heroic way
And the Black and Tans,
Like lightning ran
From the rifles of the IRA!

They hanged young Kevin Barry high
A lad of just eighteen years
Cork City's flames lit up in the sky
But our brave boys knew no fear
The Cork brigade with hand grenades
In ambush wait and lay,
And the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the IRA!

The tans, they were got, taken out and shot
By our brave and our fearless 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 lightning ran
From the Rifles of the IRA!
How the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the IRA!