James Joseph Connolly, your freedom's cause was bright,
Like his namesake of '16, you stepped forward for the fight,
The battle cry of ancient times, heard the call of liberty,
With valiant heart you played your part to set your country free.

Captured and badly injured, in the greatest of pain,
Without fear, this volunteer refused to give his name,
Your father at your bedside, slowly watched you die,
He could not even hold you close, to say a last goodbye.

Injustice and oppression are the rеasons for this war,
Each volunteer who gave his life knew what hе was fighting for,
The rights of the Irish nation, to this land their own,
To end hatred and bigotry, to rule ourselves alone.

To centuries of English rule, we've never cried defeat,
The use of any brutal ways, a resistance for to beat,
Our day of freedom soon will come, to the dawning of the day,
If we're courageous and determined, Joseph Connolly showed the way.

The loss of Harvey and McGlynn, neath Castlederg so
Loughgall and Drumnakilly, foul murders at Clonoe,
Strabane lost Charles Breslin, brothers David and Michael Devine,
Tyrone's brave young fighting men, who dared to cross the line.

Joseph Connolly, fearless to the end, now joins the patriot band,
Men who died on active service, to unstage her from our land,
Their sacrifice speaks a thousand words, we hold each name with pride,
For Ireland free, one day will fly the flag for which they died.

Seasons change round Aghyaran, swiftly years rolled by,
Above the fields, the hills, and grains, the curlew swoops and flies,
There's not a day that passes we do not speak your name,
Of the day you died for Ireland, that day of grief and pain.

Your boots still on your granny's chair, a coat behind the door,
The laughter, Josie, your gentile ways, we've lost forevermore,
There's joy and there's sorrow, when we softly speak your name,
This sad and a lonely home that will never be the same.