The Rocky Road To Dublin

slip jig

Key signature: Adorian

Submitted on March 15th 2002 by bsykes62.

This tune has been added to 443 tunebooks.

Also known as An Botar Sgreagmar Go Baile-Ata-Cliat, An Bothar Carrach Go Baile Atha Cliath, Black Burke, Rocky Road, Rocky Road To Dublin, The Rocky Road.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

A Drop Of Pure by Quilty
Always Wecome by Marc Bernier
Another Setting by The House Band
Augusta: 20 Years Of Irish Music Recorded Live At The Augusta Heritage Center by Various Artists
Banish Misfortune by Malcolm Dalglish And Grey Larsen
Barefoot On The Altar by Chulrua
Blackthorn Ceilidh Band by Blackthorn Ceilidh Band
Carrig River by Shades Of MacMurrough
Classics Of Irish Piping Volume 2 by William Andrews And Liam Walsh
Cuckanandy by Moving Cloud
Fairwater (Fionnuisce) by Declan Masterson
Four Green Fields by Eddie And Finbar Furey
Gaelic Storm by Gaelic Storm
Green Roses by Orthodox Celts
Hit The Bricks... by Waking Maggie
Humdinger by Paul Brock And Enda Scahill
Ireland's Finest by The Dubliners
Irish Accordion by Timmy Cronin
It Is What It Is by Colm O'Brien
Kitty From Ballinamore by Ash Plant
Knot Loitering by Knot Fibb'n
Last Leaves by Malinky
Leo Rowsome: Classics Of Irish Piping by Leo Rowsome
On A Fine Spring Evening by The Tossers
Penny Trumpets by Garry Walsh
Rince: Complete Irish Dancing Set - First Steps And Beyond by Various Artists
Rocky Road To Dublin by Kings Galliard
Songs Of Ireland by Brobdingnagian Bards
Sunshine Dance by Deiseal
Swarbrick 2 by Dave Swarbrick
The Ale Is Dear by Clandestine
The Best Of Irish Piping by Seamus Ennis
The Devils Fiddler by Nick Pynn
The Irish Experience by The Irish Experience
The Irish Girl by Robin Bullock And Michel Sikiotakis
The Long Black Veil by The Chieftains
The Wide World Over by The Chieftains
The Wind Among The Reeds by Tommy Keane And Jaqueline McCarthy
The Wood And The Wire by Fairport Convention
Tune For Michael by Tom McConville

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

The air of a well-known song, although singers tend to throw in a few extra beats here and there to accommodate the words, which tends to throw the musicians trying to accompany them. Be warned. I've heard this played (as a slip-jig) with a third part as well.

# Posted on March 15th 2002 by ragaman

Rocky Road to Dublin

Does anyone know the words to this song? If they do, I would be grateful if you could post them.

# Posted on April 13th 2004 by Aaronjw

Beware... a folk song is about to be perpetrated

In the Merry Month of May
From me home I started
Left the Girls of Tuam
Sad and Broken hearted
Saluted Father dear
Kissed my darlin Mother
Drank a Pint of beer
Me tears and grief to smother
In a brand-new pair o' Brogues
I rattled o'er the bogs
and Frightened all the Dogs
on the Rocky road to Dublin

1 2 3 4 5
Hunt the Hare and turn her
down the Rocky road
and all the way to Dublin
Whack fol lol de ra.

etcc....

# Posted on April 13th 2004 by Pádraig

Rocky Road

An old favourite of the "Dubliners", but if you want an alternative version, listen to Ged Foley sing it with "The House Band".

# Posted on April 13th 2004 by Kenny

Rocky Road to Dublin

Do you know the rest of the song? You only gave the first verse and the corous.

# Posted on April 19th 2004 by Aaronjw

http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/d/dubliners6611/therockyroadtodublin249318.html#

# Posted on April 19th 2004 by Pádraig

Rocky Road to Dublin, set?

Im interested to know what you guys put in a set with Rocky Road to Dublin. I recently put it with a jig called lanigans ball and a reel called sleepy maggie and it works pretty well.

# Posted on July 26th 2004 by irish_fiddler2

Re: Rocky Road to Dublin, set?

hi mate,
i cant remember what we end up playing it with, but i have a track by Gaelic Storm that plays it with the Kid On The Mountain afterwards.

it sounds alright!
andy

# Posted on July 26th 2004 by briggfoot

Re: Rocky Road to Dublin, set?

i've heard people put The Morning Dew with it.

Johnathan

# Posted on July 26th 2004 by Harper_Lad

Lyrics

Here are the lyrics as I sing 'em:

All in the merry month of May,
from me home I started,
Left the girls o' Tuam
nearly broken-hearted
Saluted father dear,
kissed me darling mother
Drank a pint o' beer,
me grieves and tears to smother,
then off to reap the corn,
leave where I was born
Cut a stout blackthorn,
to banish ghost and goblins
[In a] brand new pair of brogues,
I rattled o'er the bogs,
a-frightenin' all the dogs,
on the rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Hunt the hare and turn her down
The rocky road and all the way to Dublin
A-whack-fa-lal-de-rah

In Mullingar that night
I rested limbs so weary
Started by daylight,
next morning bright and early
Took a drop o' the pure,
tae keep me heart from sinkin'
That's the Paddy's cure,
Whenever he's on the drinkin'
Now see the lassies smile,
Laughing all the while,
At me curious style,
'Twould set your heart a-bubblin'
Asking was I hired,
Wages I required
'Til I was almost tired
Of the rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ...

In Dublin next arrived,
I thought it such a pity
To be so soon deprived
A view o' that fine city
When I took a stroll,
all among the quality,
me bundle it was stolen
in that neat locality
A something crossed me mind
When I looked behind
Nay bundle I could finde
Upon me stick a-wobblin'
Inquiring for the rogue,
They said me Connacht brogue
It wasn't much in vogue
On that rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ...

From there I got away,
Me spirits never failing
Landed on the quay
Just as the ship was sailing
Captain at me roared,
Said that nay had he,
When I jumped aboard,
A cabin found for Paddy's
Doon among the pigs,
I played some funny rigs,
I danced some hearty jigs
The water 'round me bubblin'
Off to Hollishead(?),
Wished meself was dead,
Or better far instead
On the rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ...

The boys of Liverpool,
when I safely landed,
called meself a fool
I could no longer stand it,
blood began to boil,
me temper I was losing
poor old Erin's isle
they began abusing
"Hurrah me soul!" says I
Shillelagh I let fly,
Some Galway boys were nigh,
Saw I was a-wobbelin'
With a loud "Hurray!"
They joined in the afray
We quickly cleared the way,
For the rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Hunt the hare and turn her down
The rocky road, and all the way to Dublin
A-whack-fa-lal-de-rah

# Posted on September 16th 2004 by Freso

Rocky road to Dublin

In the fourth verse, the name is 'Holyhead' - it's a port on the Welsh island of Anglesey that the Dublin to Liverpool packet used to sail past.

# Posted on October 2nd 2004 by E

Rocky road to dublin

The last bit of the last verse is wher he's after getting into a fight with some liverpool lads and it sys" some Galway boys were by saw i was a swobbling =" which is an old word for fightin in Irish.

You can't beat Luke kelly for singing that song and i'd wrestle any man to the gropund who thinks otherwise.
He's a LEGEND....

# Posted on March 10th 2005 by danny boy

Listen again.......

Luke Kelly most certainly never sang “swobble”. “Swobble” doesn’t seem to exist in the meaning you ascribe to it. Can you direct me to any English or Irish dictionary where “swobble” means “fighting” as you say? The lyric is “saw I was a hobble in”. Do a google search for “rocky road to Dublin lyric” and check it out for yourself. Then do a search for “hobble” – one of the definitions is “ an awkward situation”, and that’s what yer man was in.
By the way, Jacqui McCarthy has a 3rd part for this. I’ll post it if anyone’s interested.

# Posted on March 10th 2005 by Kenny

Any tabs for this on the 5 string to be had

I'd be grateful for the tab for the aforementioned, for the 5 string, thanks.
Swobble. heh heh.

# Posted on December 14th 2006 by jams o donnell

Rocky road to dublin

recently heard a great jazzed up version of song by Canadian group McDades on 2002 Cd "for reel". check it out!

# Posted on October 3rd 2007 by mlitsky

Perhaps....

Perhaps instead of "swobbling" you may have heard something like "squabbling" although the inferred meaning seems a bit less severe than the context leads me to believe. To my ear the word in question sounds like "hobbling".

# Posted on February 8th 2008 by PJMcGorvin

Oh and....

A very very similar slipjig is #1116 by the same name in O'Niels.

But I wonder if it is actually the same piece transposed into some mode of the key of "A" because it also begins on "E" and the notes are as though altered to fit the mixolydian mode, which seems a little unusual for Irish music.

The two are so similar I that I tend to think it's either an editorial error or simply a less popular variation. Has anyone ever run into this?

# Posted on February 8th 2008 by PJMcGorvin

Roche II, page 25, tune #257 "The Rocky Road to Dublin"

"The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music, Volume II", 1912
"Hop Jigs" ~ pages 24 – 28

# Posted on July 18th 2008 by ceolachan

The Fiddler's Companion ~ Andrew Kuntz

http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/index.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/ROC.htm#ROCKY_ROAD_TO_DUBLIN_[1]

# Posted on July 18th 2008 by ceolachan

"The Rocky Road" ~ weren't they all 'rocky' back in 1905?

X: 3
T: Rocky Road, The
S: "Stanford/Petrie: Complete Collection", 1905, page 139, #548
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
R: slip jig
K: Ador
e2 c d2 B A3 | E2 A A2 B c2 d |
[1 e2 c d2 B A2 c | B2 G G2 A Bcd :|
[2 e2 g f2 a g2 e | d2 B G2 A Bcd ||
e2 a a2 ^g a3 | e2 a a2 f ged |
e2 a a2 f g2 e | d2 B G2 A Bcd |
e2 a a2 g g3 | e2 a a2 f g2 a |
b2 g a2 f g2 e | d2 B G2 A Bcd |]

# Posted on July 18th 2008 by ceolachan