Irish Soldier Laddie • Chris Finnegan + Ken Trotta • 8.28.24 @ Hailey's Harp & Pub – Metuchen, NJ

Chris Finnegan [Uilleann Pipes, Whistle, Bass, Vocals (as Gaeilge)] & Frank Bonfato cover ofPat Mc Guigan's classic “Irish Soldier Laddie.”

Recorded live 8.28.24 at Hailey's Harp & Pub in Metuchen, NJ.
2024 RadiantLlamaCinema

Lyrics:
'Twas a morning in July
I was walking to Tipperary
When I heard a battle cry
From the mountains over head
As I looked up in the sky
I saw an Irish soldier laddie
He looked at me right fearlessly and said:

"Will ye stand in the band like a true Irish man
And go and fight the forces of the crown?
Will ye march with O'Neill to an Irish battlefield?
For tonight we go to free old Wexford town!"

Said I to that soldier boy
"Won't you take me to your captain
'Twould be my pride and joy
For to march with you today
My young brother fell in Cork
And my son at Innes Carthay!"
Unto the noble captain I did say:

"Will ye stand in the band like a true Irish man
And go and fight the forces of the crown?
Will ye march with O'Neill to an Irish battlefield?
For tonight we go to free old Wexford town!

As we marched back from the field
In the shadow of the evening
With our banners flying low
To the memory of our dead
We returned unto our homes
But without my soldier laddie
Yet I never will forget those words he said:

Will ye stand in the band like a true Irish man
And go and fight the forces of the crown?
Will ye march with O'Neill to an Irish battlefield?
For tonight we go to free old Wexford town!