In nineteen hundred and sixteen,
The Forces of the Crown,
For to Capture Orange, White and Green,
Bombarded Dublin Town,
But in twenty one, Britannia's sons,
Began to earn their pay,
When the Black and Tans, Like lightning ran
From the rifles of the IRA
They burned their way through Munster
Laid Leinster on the rack,
Through Connaught and through Ulster,
Marched the men in brown and black,
They shot down wives and children,
In their own heroic way, when
The black and tans, like lightning ran
From the rifles of the IRA
They hung young Kevin Barry high,
A lad of eighteen years,
Cork City's flames lit up in the sky
But our brave lads new no fear
The Cork brigade with hand-grenades
In ambush wait and lay,
And the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the I.R.A.!
The tans were taken out and shot
By a brave and valiant few
Sean Treacy, Dinny Lacey
And Tom Barry's famous crew
We're not free yet but we won't forget
Until our dying day,
When the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the I.R.A.!
We're not free yet we won't forget
Until our dying day,
When the black and tans,
Like lightning ran
From the Rifles of the I.R.A.!