Once upon a time there was
Irish Ways and Irish Laws
Villages of Irish blood
Waking to the morning
Then the Vikings came around (4)
Turned us up and turned us down
Started building boats and towns
They tried to change our living
They tried to change our living
Cromwell and his soldiers came (1)
Started centuries of shame
But they would not make us turn (2)
We are a river flowing
We’re a river flowing
Again, again the soldiers came
Burnt our houses stole our grain
Shot the farmers in the fields
Working for a living
Working for a living
800 years we have been down (3)
The secrets of the water sound
Has kept the spirit of a man
Above the pain descending
Above the pain descending
Today the struggle carries on
I wonder will I live so long
To see the gates being opened up (4)
To a people and their freedom
A people and their freedom