The Merry Ploughboy • Derek Warfield & the Young Wolfe Tones • 2024 New Jersey Irish Festival

Renowned Irish folk/rebel band Derek Warfield & the Young Wolfe Tones cover "The Merry Ploughboy" by Doiminic Ó Beacháin, one of the most influential Irish songwriters of the 20th century.
Musicians in this performance include Derek Warfield, Andreas Durkin, Eddie Kane [lead vocals], Brent Hopper and Dan Foster.
Recorded live Sunday June 9th in Oceanport, NJ at the 52nd New Jersey Irish Festival at Monmouth Raceway. 2024 RadiantLlamaCinema.
Lyrics:
Oh, I am a merry ploughboy
And I plough the fields all day
'Till a sudden thought came to my mind
That I should roam away
For I'm tired of this civilian life
Since the day that I was born
So I'm off to join the IRA
And I'm off tomorrow morn'
And we're all off to Dublin in the Green
Where the helmets glisten in the sun
Where the bayonets clash
And rifles crash
To the echo of the Thompson gun
I'll leave aside my pick and spade
I'll leave aside my plough
Oh, I'll leave aside my horse and yoke
For no more I'll need them now
And I leave aside my Mary
She is the girl I do adore
And I wonder if
She thinks of me when she hears that canon roar
And we're all off to Dublin in the Green, in the green
Where the helmets glisten in the sun
Where the bayonets flash and the rifles crash
To the rattle of a Thompson gun
And when the war is over, and dear old Ireland is free
I'll take her to the church to wed and a rebel's wife she'll be
Well some men fight for silver and some men fight for gold
But the IRA are fighting for the land that the Saxons stole
And we're all off to Dublin in the Green, in the Green
Where the helmets glisten in the sun
Where the bay'nets flash and the rifles crash
To the rattle of a Thompson gun