Rifles of the I.R.A. Lyrics

1. In nineteen hundred and sixteen
The forces of the crown
To take Orange, White, and Green
Bombarded Dublin Town
But in '21, Britannia's sons
Were forced to earn their pay,
And the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the I.R.A.!

2. They burned their way through Munster
And laid Leinster on the rack
In Connacht, and in Ulster
Marched the men in brown and black
They shot down wives and children
In their own heroic way,
And the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the I.R.A.!

3. They hung young Kevin Barry high,
A lad of eighteen years,
Cork City's flames lit up in the sky
But our brave lads new no fear
The Cork brigade with hand-grenades
In ambush wait and lay,
And the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the I.R.A.!

4. The tans were got, taken out and shot
By a brave and valiant few
Sean Treacy, Dinny Lacey
And Tom Barry's gallant crew
Though we're not free yet we won't forget
Until our dying day,
How the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the I.R.A.!