Top Traditional Fun Songs for St. Patrick's Day

Guaranteed Clean and for Mixed Company

Growing up Irish was harsh sometimes, but when it came to holidays, it was fun for all. We always sang the clean versions of songs due to mixed company. If you search, you can find racy stanzas, or make them up yourself after some drinking. There are no deep meanings, just straightforward fun.

I can't eat corned beef and cabbage anymore. I can't even eat Irish soda bread due to my aging digestive tract. But I can still sing with gusto (not well, just loud), especially after a few pints of Irish Whiskey. There are many more Irish songs than listed here, but these are the ones my family has celebrated since at least the early 1900's. I have largely quoted the refrains or most well-known stanzas.

More of the lyrics are available on line along with the music so you can hear them. We still have most of the original sheet music from my parents and grandparents.

#1-McNamara's Band
Oh, me name is McNamara I'm the leader of the band. Although we're few in number we're the finest in the land. We play at wakes and weddings and at every fancy ball. And when we play at funerals we play the March of Saul. Oh, the drums go bang and the cymbals clang and the horns they blaze away. McCarthy pumps the old kazoo while I have the pipes to play and hennessy-tennesy tootles the flute and the music is something grand. A credit to Old Ireland is McNamara's Band.

#2-Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder
Who threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder? Nobody spoke so he shouted all the louder "it's an Irish trick its true I can lick the Mick you threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy's chowder. (She washed them [in the tub] yesterday and forgot to take them out).