Kevin Barry

In Mount Joy one Monday morning, high upon the gallows tree,
Kevin Barry gave his young life for the sake of liberty;
Just a lad of eighteen summers, that nobody can deny,
Kevin Barry faced the hangman and these words he did reply:

Shoot me like an Irish soldier, do not hang me like a dog;
For I fought to save old Ireland in that cold November fog.

And before he faced the gallows, in that lonely prison cell,
Foreign soldiers tortured Barry, they said now we'll make you tell;
You'll tell the names of your companions and the others that you know,
Turn informer or we'll kill you. Kevin Barry answered no.

Then his comrades they stood attention, as he bid the last farewell,
To his broken hearted mother, in her grief too sad to tell:

Shoot me like an Irish soldier was the last request he made;
But they hung young Kevin Barry on that cold November day.

They hung young Kevin Barry on that cold November day.