Oh, I am a merry ploughboy and
I plough the fields all day
Till a sudden thought came to my head,
For I'm sick and tired of slavery
since the day that I was born
And I'm off to join the IRA
and I'm off tomorrow morn
I'll leave aside me pick and spade,
I'll leave aside me plough
I'll leave aside me horse and yoke,
I no longer need them now
I'll leave aside me Mary,
she's the girl that I adore
And I wonder if she'll think of me
when she'll hear the rifles roar
And when the war is over and
I'll take her to the church to wed
and a rebel's wife she'll be
Well, some men fight for silver
and some men fight for gold
But the IRA are fighting for the land
that the Freestaters stole