Song List of Irish Favorites For St. Patrick’s Day

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”.

1. A Great Day For The Irish
2. A Little Bit of Heaven
3. Beautiful Day – U2
4. Beer, Beer, Beer
5. Carrickfergus
6. Danny Boy
7. Dear Old Donegal – Bing Crosby
8. Erin-Go-Bragh
9. Finnegan’s Wake
10. Flannigan’s Ball 
    
11. Four Green Fields – Tommy Makem
12. Galway Bay – Bing Crosby
13. Give Ireland Back To The Irish – Paul McCartney
14. Greensleeves
15. I’ll Tell Me Ma – Van Morrison & The Chieftains
16. I’m Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover
17. Irish Rover – The Pogues
18. It’s the Same Old Shillelagh – Billy Murray, Bing Crosby
19. Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye
20. McNamara’s Band – Bing Crosby
21. Molly Malone (also known as “Cockles and Mussels” or “In Dublin’s Fair City”)
22. My Wild Irish Rose
23. Paddy’s Revenge
24. Peg o’ My Heart
25. Rocky Road To Dublin – Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, Dropkick Murphys, and several other artists
26. Seven Drunken Nights – The Dubliners
27. The Black Velvet Band – The Dubliners
28. The Fields of Athenry – Paddy Reilly, Dropkick Murphys
    
29. The Girl I Left Behind Me – 97th Regimental String Band
30. The Soldier’s Song (the Traditional Irish name is “Amhrán na bhFiann”)
31. The Spinning Wheel
32. The Town I Loved So Well – Paddy Reilly
33. The Unicorn – The Irish Rovers
34. The Wild Rover
35. There’s No One As Irish As Barrack Obama – The Corrigan Brothers
36. Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (An Irish Lullaby) – Bing Crosby
37. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
38. 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!