This is a list of songs about
Dublin, Ireland, including parts of the city such as individual neighborhoods and sections, and famous personages, arranged chronologically.
"
Lock Hospital" (also known as "St. James Hospital" and "
The Unfortunate Rake") - Irish version of a song also found in Britain and the USA (where it developed into "The Dying Cowboy" and "St. James Infirmary)"[4]
19th century
"Ye Men of Sweet Liberties Hall" - written by Dubliner
Zozimus (Michael Moran, 1794–1846) about the Dublin
Liberties.[5]
"
Donnelly and Cooper" - relates a bout between the Dublin boxer and an Englishman, from about 1845[7]
"The Twangman" - a comical murder ballad attributed (by Dominic Behan) to Zozimus (Michael Moran).[5]
"The Finding of Moses" - a comical ballad attributed to Zozimus (Michael Moran).[5]
"
Molly Malone" - probably the best-known song about Dublin.[8]
"Courtin' in the Kitchen" - a music-hall-type song made popular by
Delia Murphy.[9]
"The Spanish Lady" - a man becomes enamoured of a Spanish lady; versions of this popular song were recorded by Al O'Donnell, the Clancy Brothers and the Dubliners.[5]
"
Tim Finigan's Wake" - also known as "Finnegan's Wake" - mid 19th-century broadside and music-hall song published in New York, attributed to John F. Poole.[15] to an air called "The French Musician"[16][17]
"The True-Lovers' Trip to the
Strawberry Beds", c. 1854 - about a trip to a favourite courting spot.[3]
"The Night of the Ragman's Ball" - collected by
Colm O'Lochlainn from a ballad singer in
Thomas Street in 1913; melody, called "It was in Dublin city", is in the Petrie collection (1855).
Luke Cheevers said it, and a follow-up, "The Ragman's Wake", was written by Tommy Winters, who died in WW1. Recorded by
Frank Harte,
The Dubliners.[16]
"
The Rocky Road to Dublin" - a rollicking song written by Galwayman D. K. Gavan for music-hall artist Harry Clifton around 1863.[18][19]
"Lannigan's Ball" - written by Galwayman D. K. Gavan for popular music-hall artist Harry Clifton around 1863.[16][18]
"Dublin Jack of All Trades" - a broadside ballad from the 1860s recorded by
The Johnstons, among others.[3]
"The Cruise of the Calabar" - a comical song about a canal barge by
Arthur Griffith[5]
"Twenty Men From Dublin Town" - written by Arthur Griffith, recorded by Danny Doyle
"Down by the Liffeyside (Fish and Chips)" - written by
Peadar Kearney[5]
"
Dying Rebel" - a song about the aftermath of the 1916 Rising in Dublin
"The Recruiting Sergeant" - Written by Dublin journalist Seamus O'Farrell (1886–1973) in 1915; recorded by, among others, Dominic Behan and
The Black Brothers.
"Easy and Slow" - a song of somewhat constant innuendo set in Dublin's
Liberties[5]
"The Ferryman" - about the ferries on the
River Liffey, by Pete St. John.[27]
"Ringsend Rose" - about a girl from
Ringsend, written by Pete St. John.[27]
"Dublin Lady" - by singer/songwriter
John Conolly. Not written by the excellent John Conolly but rather by Patrick Carroll (lyric) and Andy Irvine (music).
"From Dublin With Love" - by Newfoundland singer/songwriter
Ron Hynes
"The Black Dodder" - written and recorded by Dublin singer/songwriter/actor Mick Fitzgerald.
"Drink" - written and recorded by Dublin singer/songwriter/actor Mick Fitzgerald.
"Dublin" - written and recorded by
Phil Lynott in 1972
"Inner City Song" - written by harmonica-player Don Baker about 1974 which became a hit for the Jolly Beggarmen (with Baker on harmonica and Johnny Carroll on vocals)
"Meet Me At The Pillar" - about the 1916 Rising, by Seán and Frank O'Meara; recorded by
Jim McCann, the Dublin City Ramblers, and others.
"My Last Farewell" - by Seán and Frank O'Meara, based on Padraic Pearse's last letter; recorded by the
Barleycorn (vocals by Derek McCormack).
^A.L.Lloyd, Folksong in England (London, 1967), pp. 219-220. It was collected in County Cork in 1848 and the singer said he learned it in Dublin in 1790.
^
abcdefghijklmnHarte, Frank, Songs of Dublin, (ed.), 1978, Gilbert Dalton, Dublin and 1993, Ossian Publications, Cork.
ISBN0-946005-51-6
^O'Hara, Aidan (1997). I'll live till I die: Drumlin Publications. Leitrim:
[1].
ISBN1-873437-17-X. {{
cite book}}: External link in |publisher= (
help)
^"My Father Sold Charcoal" Songster, 24-25, in the Library of Congress. Attributed to A. Anderson, to the air of "The Captain with the Whiskers".
^Brothers, Clancy (1969). The Irish Songbook. New York: Wise Publications.
ISBN0-86001-280-8.