[Verse]
1798 we rose against England,
We fought with our pikes, but they answered with guns,
We fought them on the mountains, we fought by the rivers,
We knew that if captured, we'd be tortured and hung,
From Antrim to Derry, from Wexford to Kerry,
We prayed that our freedom was soon to be won.

[Chorus]
Ireland, Ireland, long held in chains,
Never defeated, we've risen again.

[Verse]
A dark time in Ireland there came a great famine,
The people were starving the rents were too high,
Evictions, then hunger then forced emigration,
Our people with Typhoid in ditches did die,
The Young Irelanders fought back with determination,
That once more in Ireland the green flag would fly.

[Chorus]
Ireland, Ireland, long held in chains,
Never defeated, we've risen again.

[Verse]
The Fenians fought both in Ireland and England,
Their leaders were captured, transported for years,
In exile they planned to return and free Ireland,
Rossa then died, at his graveside stood Pearse,
In 1916 the people had risen,
For the age old demands: freedom, justice, and peace.

[Chorus]
Ireland, Ireland, long held in chains,
Never defeated, we've risen again.

[Verse]
The British would not give us full independence,
Partition, division, then came civil war,
Six counties in Ulster are still held in bondage,
The struggle goes on as it did years ago,
Oh, let us now sing of Ireland's new heroes,
IRA volunteers who will end this long war.

[Chorus]
Ireland, Ireland, long held in chains,
Never defeated, we've risen again.

[Chorus]
Ireland, Ireland, long held in chains,
Never defeated, we've risen again.