In eleven sixty-seven, they came to ireland on the make
They were followed by invasions and by conquests in their wake
The kings and queens of england made the land a battleground
They took the land by fraud, defeat; poison, murder and deceit!

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

Then by the fifteenth century they held precariously to the pale
The invaders were more irish than the irish, that's the tale
A fat greedy king (called henry)'s dick was bigger than his brain
Forced a reformation- confiscating usurpation!

You'll never beat the irish, no matter what you do
You can put us down and keep us out, but we'll come back again
You know we are the fighting irish and we'll fight until the end
You know, you should have known: You'll never beat the irish

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

The virgin queen, elizabeth, brought more turmoil to our land
She decimated munster, scorched the earth and all at hand
Then james the first and charles the mad brought out other greedy bands
They took the land of ulster, killed their chieftains- poisoned, plundered!

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

And by defective titles, they cheated connaught and the west
Across the seventeenth century from war we had no rest
For the curse of cromwell plagued the land, 'til our towns were red with blood
Then the battle of the boyne was fought by william, james and foreign hoards

You'll never beat the irish, no matter what you do
You can put us down and keep us out, but we'll come back again
You know we are the fighting irish and we'll fight until the end
You know, you should have known: You'll never beat the irish

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

At the siege of limerick, patrick sarsfield won the day
But the irish they were cheated when his army went away
Queen ann and her successors forced on us those penal laws
Denying the rights and liberty of religion, land, and property!

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

Then came the three mad georges and they had us nearly fooled
They couldn't speak the lingo of the countries that they ruled
Puppets of the ascendancy they kept the irish down
But the rebels and the whiteboys hard their army on the run!

You'll never beat the irish, no matter what you do
You can put us down and keep us out, but we'll come back again
You know we are the fighting irish and we'll fight until the end
You know, you should have known: You'll never beat the irish

The famine queen, victoria came to rule us by and by
She was on the throne so bloody long, we thought she'd never die!
She presided over hunger, famine, poverty, and disease
She drove the people from their home to their death or to the land beyond the sea!

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

All across the 19th century, fought oppression with great zeal
O'connell spoke his blarney for emancipation and repeal
Young ireland and the fenians tried the dynamite and the gun
Parnell, the men of sixteen died, then michael collins had them on the run!

You'll never beat the irish, no matter what you do
You can put us down and keep us out, but we'll come back again
You know we are the fighting irish and we'll fight until the end
You know, you should have known: You'll never beat the irish

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

In 1922 well they divided up our land
Six counties held by england, it was all they could command
Against the wishes of the majority of the people of our land
They drew a dorder through our country through town and home and mountains

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

Then the country was engulfed into a bloody civil war
Between those against the treaty and those who voted for
George the iv, he opend parliament for the stalled in the north
While the rest were building ireland from the ruined colonial lashes

You'll never beat the irish, no matter what you do
You can put us down and keep us out, but we'll come back again
You know we are the fighting irish and we'll fight until the end
You know, you should have known: You'll never beat the irish

Then edward, george, and elizabeth looked after ireland's fate
They watched discrimination grow in a gerrymandered state
Homes and churches burnt while the orange power did grew
Discrimination bigotry in housing jobs and liberties

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day

From the ashes of the past, the phoniex did emerge
A new declared republic, on the world it did converge
The search for peace prosperity and unity in our land
We too are locked in europe, till they made their peace agreement

You'll never beat the irish, no matter what you do
You can put us down and keep us out, but we'll come back again
You know we are the fighting irish and we'll fight until the end
You know, you should have known: You'll never beat the irish

Murder, plunder, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Cheating, stealing, diddly-idel-day
Ducking, diving, faugh a ballagh, clear the way
Diddly-aidel-doh, diddly-aidel-day