(Seán South Of Garryowen)
[Intro]
Sad are the homes round Garryowen,
Since lost their joy and pride,
And the banshee's cry is heard on every vale,
Along the Shannonside.

That city of the ancient walls,
The broken treaty stone,
Undying fame surrounds your name,
Seán South from Garryowen.

[Verse]
Twas on a dreary New Year's Eve as the shades of night came down,
A lorry load of volunteers approached the border town,
There were men from Dublin and from Cork, Fermanagh and Tyrone,
And their leader was a Limerick man, Seán South from Garryowen.

And as they moved along the street up to the barrack door,
They scorned the danger they might meet, the fate that lay in store,
They were fighting for old Ireland, to claim their very own,
And the foremost of that gallant band was South from Garryowen.

But a sergeant he spied their daring plan, he spied them through the door,
The sten guns and the rifles, a hail of death did pour,
And when that awful night was past, two men lay cold as stone,
There was one from near the border and one from Garryowen.

No more he will hear the seagull cry, o'er the murmuring Shannon tide,
For he fell beneath the northern sky, brave Hanlon by his side,
They have gone to join that gallant band of Plunkett, Pearse and Tone,
A martyr for old Ireland was South from Garryowen.

Do, do, do, do, do...,
Do, do, do, do, do....

(The Broad Black Brimmer)
[Verse]
There's a uniform that's hanging in what's known as father's room,
A uniform so simple in its style,
It's got no braid of gold or silk, no hat with feathered plume,
Yet me mother has preserved it all the while.

One day she made me try it on, a wish of mine for years,
"In memory of your father, dear", she said,
And when I put the Sam Browne on, she was smiling through her tears,
She placed the broad black brimmer on me head.

[Chorus]
It's just a broad black brimmer, ribbons frayed and torn,
By the careless whisk of manys a mountain breeze,
An old trench coat that's all battle-stained and worn,
And breeches almost threadbare at the knees.

A Sam Browne belt with a buckle big and strong,
A holster that's been empty manys a day, (But not for long!)
But when men claim Ireland's freedom, for the one she'll choose to lead them,
Will wear the broad black brimmer of the IRA.

[Verse]
It was the uniform being worn by me father long ago,
When he reached me mother's homestead on the run,
It was the uniform being worn in that little church below,
Old Father Mac, he blessed the pair as one.

And after truce and treaty and the parting of the ways,
He wore it when he marched out with the rest, (And the best!)
And when they bore his body down that rugged heather braes,
They placed the broad black brimmer on his breast.

[Chorus]
It's just a broad black brimmer, ribbons frayed and torn,
By the careless whisk of manys a mountain breeze,
An old trench coat that's all battle-stained and worn,
And breeches almost threadbare at the knees.

A Sam Browne belt with the buckle big and strong,
And a holster that's been empty manys a day, (But not for long!)
But when men claim Ireland's freedom, for the one she'll choose to lead them,
Will wear the broad black brimmer of the IRA.

(Big Strong Man)
[Verse]
Have you heard about the big strong man?
He lives in a caravan,
Have you heard about the Jeffries-Johnson fight?
Oh, what a hell of a fight.

You can take all the heavyweights you got,
We've got a lad who will beat the whole lot,
He used to ring the bells in the belfry,
He's gonna fight, Jack Dempsey.

[Chorus]
Was my brother Sylvest, (What's he got?)
A row of forty medals on his chest, (A big chest!)
Killed fifty badmen in the west, he knows no rest,
Bigger the man, hell's fire, don't push, just shove, plenty of room for you and me.

He's got an arm, (He's got an arm!), like a leg, (Lady's leg!)
And a punch that would sink a battleship, (Big ship!)
It takes all the army and the navy,
To put the wind up Sylvest.

[Verse]
Well, he thought he'd take a trip to Italy,
He thought that he'd go by sea,
He jumped off the harbour in New York,
And he swam like a man made of cork.

He saw the Lusitania in distress, (What'd he do?)
He put the Lusitania on his chest, (Big chest!)
He drank all the water in the sea,
He walked all the way to Italy

[Chorus]
That was my brother Sylvest, (What's he got?)
A row of forty medals on his chest, (A big chest!)
Killed fifty badmen in the West, he knows no rest,
Bigger the man, hell's fire, don't push, just shove, plenty of room for you and me.

He's got an arm, (He's got an arm!), like a leg, (Lady's leg!)
And a punch that would sink a battleship, (Big ship!)
It takes all the army and the navy,
To put the wind up Sylvest.

[Verse]
Well, he thought he'd take a trip to old Japan,
They turned out the whole brass band,
He played every instrument they got,
Like a lad, sure he beat the whole lot.

Now the old church bells will ring, (Hell's bells!)
The old church choir will sing, (Hell's choir!)
They all turned out to say farewell,
To my big brother Sylvest.

[Chorus]
That was my brother Sylvest, (What's he got?)
A row of forty medals on his chest, (A big chest!)
Killed fifty badmen in the West, he knows no rest,
Bigger the man, hell's fire, don't push, just shove, plenty of room for you and me.

He's got an arm, (He's got an arm!), like a leg, (Lady's leg!)
And a punch that would sink a battleship, (Big ship!)
It takes all the army and the navy,
To put the wind up Sylvest.