Ireland is a place of poetry and song. The sorrows of the past and the everyday grief of the modern day are captured in its songs. Here are the saddest lyrics in Irish folk music that will instantly make you cry.
Throughout Ireland’s long history, the island has been a place of song. The Irish have a particular talent with capturing sadness.
The concept of frisson – where you feel the music as a physical sensation – is a particular speciality of Irish music.
While they are equally skilled at fun and raucous songs perfect for a pub session, as the evening winds on, sad Irish songs captivate everyone in the room.
The Fields of Athenry – a lament about the Famine
Although this song is well-known and well-worn, the story of a man who stole corn to ensure his children would survive the night and was punished by transportation on a prison ship to a penal colony remains one of the most poignant sad Irish songs.
Many people are surprised to learn it is not a traditional folk song, but was penned in 1979 by Peter St. John because many folk singers felt that there were not enough songs about the Famine.
“By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling / Michael, they are taking you away / For you stole Trevelyan’s corn, so the young might see the morn / Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay.”
My Connemara Marble Ring – a song of exile
This is a very sad song about emigration and the way class divide separates lovers. The woman in the song is sent away to England after falling in love with a boy from Connemara.
Her granddaughter is the singer describing how her grandmother always wore her Connemara Marble ring in memory of him.
Written by Candy Murphy when she was just 16 years old for her sister Cindy, this song is now an Irish country music standard with over 30 recordings by various artists.
“My Connemara Marble Ring/everywhere with me I’ll bring/As everyone its praises I will sing/On my finger it will stay forever until my dying day/how I love My Connemara Marble Ring.”
Grace – the tragic love story
Grace Gifford married Joseph Mary Plunkett hours before he was executed at Kilmainham Gaol. This song, written by brothers Seán and Frank O’Meara, details their love before he was destined to die.
The story of Grace and Jospeh is one of the most heartbreaking love stories in Irish history.
“Oh, Grace, just hold me in your arms and let this moment linger / They’ll take me out at dawn and I will die / With all my love I place this wedding ring upon your finger / There won’t be time to share our love, so for now, oh Grace, goodbye.”
The Green Fields of France – the futility of war
This song is addressed to a soldier who died in the first World War. This sad Irish song, written by Eric Bogle, focuses on the waste of human life during wartime.
The concept of a soldier whose body remains in France, a foreign land, instead of back home in Ireland, makes this song a particularly poignant look at war and the human cost of conflict.
“Did you leave a young wife or a sweetheart behind / In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined? / And although you died back in 1916 / To that loyal heart are you forever 19?”
On Raglan Road – unrequited love
This is a more recent song about falling in love with someone who does not return your love. This song was originally written by Patrick Kavanaugh about his unrequited love for a medical student named Hilda Moriarty.
It was originally titled Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away. He gave the lyrics to Luke Kelly in a pub and suggested they be sung to fit the metre of the traditional Irish air “Fáinne Geal an Lae” (also known as “The Dawning of the Day”).
“On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now/Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow/That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay—/When the angel woos the clay he’d lose his wings at the dawn of day.“
From the history of Ireland’s woes to the everyday themes of lost love, Irish song has the quality of speaking to the soul.
There are countless ballads in the Irish songbook and every one of them tugs on the heartstrings. You may find your own list of the saddest Irish song lyrics differ from these, but in every case, Irish songs have the ability to speak to you.
