Seems like everyone is Irish, even if it is for only one day a year, to take part in the merriment and celebration. The “wearing of the green” is here again as St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by the Irish and “Irish-at-Heart” on March 17 in big cities and small towns across America and elsewhere around the world with parades, parties, music, laughter, stories and folktales along with traditional Irish food and drink.
Here you will find a list of Irish musical favorites over the years – a majority of which are traditional or classic folk music song for generations. A number of these have been covered by many different artists in a range of genres from Irish folk to punk and Irish pop standard to “New Age”.
Song List of Irish Favorites For St. Patrick’s Day
- A Great Day For The Irish
- A Little Bit of Heaven
- Beautiful Day – U2
- Beer, Beer, Beer
- Carrickfergus
- Danny Boy
- Dear Old Donegal – Bing Crosby
- Erin-Go-Bragh
- Finnegan’s Wake
- Flannigan’s Ball
- Four Green Fields – Tommy Makem
- Galway Bay – Bing Crosby
- Give Ireland Back To The Irish – Paul McCartney
- Greensleeves
- I’ll Tell Me Ma – Van Morrison & The Chieftains
- I’m Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover
- Irish Rover – The Pogues
- It’s the Same Old Shillelagh – Billy Murray, Bing Crosby
- Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye
- McNamara’s Band – Bing Crosby
- Molly Malone (also known as “Cockles and Mussels” or “In Dublin’s Fair City”)
- My Wild Irish Rose
- Paddy’s Revenge
- Peg o’ My Heart
- Rocky Road To Dublin – Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, Dropkick Murphys, and several other artists
- Seven Drunken Nights – The Dubliners
- The Black Velvet Band – The Dubliners
- The Fields of Athenry – Paddy Reilly, Dropkick Murphys
- The Girl I Left Behind Me – 97th Regimental String Band
- The Soldier’s Song (the Traditional Irish name is “Amhrán na bhFiann”)
- The Spinning Wheel
- The Town I Loved So Well – Paddy Reilly
- The Unicorn – The Irish Rovers
- The Wild Rover
- There’s No One As Irish As Barrack Obama – The Corrigan Brothers
- Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (An Irish Lullaby) – Bing Crosby
- When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
- Whiskey In The Jar – Thin Lizzie, Metallica
A Few Favorite Artists that are the Sound of Irish Music
Whether it is folk classic, Irish rock or punk, or modern alternative, these artists stand out.
- Bing Crosby
- Sarah Makem
- The Chieftains
- The Clancy Brothers
- Tommy Makem
- Paddy Tunney
- The Dubliners
- Eleanor McEvoy
- The Irish Rovers
- The Irish Tenors
- “Riverdance”
- Van Morrison
- U2
- Thin Lizzy
- Enya
- The Pogues
- The Cranberries
- Dropkick Murphys
- The Corrs
- Clannad
Here is a helpful link to an excellent site called “Island Ireland”, which is a directory for Irish musicians. It will take you to official or fan websites for Irish musicians in the traditional, classical, New Age and rock genres. For background information on Irish musicians, particularly older groups, you may want to check out the Ceolas Artist Listings site which can be very useful.
Additional Links:
- IslandIreland.com
- Music of Ireland (Wikipedia)
- A Huge List of Irish Folk Ballads (Wikipedia)
- 100+ Drinking Songs – I’ll Drink To That!
Filed under: Holidays & Celebrations, Song Lists | Tagged: drinking songs, Dublin, Irish music, Irish songs, March 17, March 17th songs, pub songs, Saint Patricks Day songs, song list, songs of Ireland, St. Paddy's Day, St. Patrick's Day songs, St. Patricks Day, traditional Irish songs | 1 Comment »