"The Irish Rover" is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

song about a magnificent though improbable

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

that reaches an unfortunate end. It has been recorded by numerous artists, some of whom have made changes to the lyrics over time. The song describes a gigantic ship with "twenty-three masts" (versions by The Dubliners and The Pogues claim twenty-seven), a colourful crew and varied types of cargo in enormous amounts. The verses grow successively more extravagant about the wonders of the great ship. The seven-year voyage culminates in a disastrous end, after the ship suffers a

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

outbreak, killing all but the narrator and the captain's dog. The ship then strikes a rock, turning "nine times around" and sinking. The captain's dog drowns in the incident, and the narrator is the only survivor, "the last of the ''Irish Rover''," leaving no one else alive to contradict the tale.

History

According to the 1966 publication ''Walton's New Treasury of Irish Songs and Ballads 2'', the song is attributed to songwriter/arranger J. M. Crofts. There is a manuscript version of the song dated to 1937/38. It is currently in the Irish National Folklore Collection in Dublin. The source is Lisgotman Townland, Cloonlogher, County Leitrim. The next source for Roud 7379 in the Vaughan Williams Library catalogue is the singer Denis Murray from County Cork, collected by Fred Hamer, possibly 1946. On the time scale of traditional folk songs this is quite recent. However a Canadian source, Oliver John Abbott (1872 - 1962) was born in England and worked in farms in an Irish community in the Ottawa Valley. He recorded this song in 1961 but claimed to have learned it the 1880s and 1890s. Another source in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

was recorded in 1941. This suggests that the song is connected to an Irish expatriate community in Canada or the USA.

Charts

(The Pogues & The Dubliners single)

Cultural impact

* "The Irish Rover" is a popular

-Gaelic

Scottish country dance Scottish country dance (SCD) is the distinctively Scottish form of country dance, itself a form of social dance involving groups of couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns. A dance consists of a sequence of figures. These dances are ...

and is set to the music of the song. *

The Irish Rovers The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that originated in Toronto, Canada. Formed in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and na ...

, created in 1963, were named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover" by their mother in

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

, N. Ireland. * A character from the song lends his name to the political blog

Slugger O'Toole Slugger O'Toole is a weblog started in June 2002 by political analyst Mick Fealty. It began life as Letter to Slugger O'Toole, focused primarily on news and comment about Northern Ireland. From the beginning it has drawn its readership from a ...

Recordings

"The Irish Rover" has been recorded many times including: * 1966 –

on their debut album, '' The First of the Irish Rovers''. They recorded it again in 1996 for the album, ''The Irish Rovers' Gems''.The Irish Rovers' Gems
/ref> * 1987 –

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

with

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...

on The Dubliners's album ''

25 Years Celebration ''25 Years Celebration'' is a double album by The Dubliners. Recorded in 1987 and charted in the UK at No.43 and No.1 in Ireland. The album released following a special '' Late Late Show'' appearance by the group, ''25 Years Celebration'' feature ...

''. When released as a single in the same year this version reached number 8 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, number 1 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

and number 45 in the Euro Chart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Rover, The 1987 singles Irish folk songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles The Dubliners songs The Pogues songs Fictional ships