The 40 Best Irish Drinking Songs and Pub Singalongs

What is the most famous Irish drinking song?

"Whiskey in the Jar" and "The Wild Rover" are the most famous Irish drinking songs, sung in pubs from Dublin to Boston. "The Irish Rover", "Molly Malone" and "Seven Drunken Nights" are close behind, and every pub session ends sooner or later with "The Parting Glass".

The classic Irish pub singalongs

1. "Whiskey in the Jar", traditional: a highwayman's tale, famously recorded by the Dubliners, Thin Lizzy and Metallica.
2. "The Wild Rover", traditional: the ultimate pub singalong, with a chorus the whole room claps along to.
3. "The Irish Rover", The Pogues and the Dubliners: a rollicking tall tale of an unlucky ship.
4. "Molly Malone", traditional: Dublin's unofficial anthem about a fishmonger.
5. "Seven Drunken Nights", The Dubliners: a comic story song and a 1967 UK hit.
6. "Finnegan's Wake", traditional: the comic ballad about a wake that wakes the dead.
7. "Rocky Road to Dublin", The Dubliners: a breakneck travel song.
8. "Tell Me Ma", traditional: a cheerful children's song turned pub favorite.
9. "The Black Velvet Band", traditional: a story of a young man led astray.
10. "The Rare Old Mountain Dew", traditional: a happy ode to poteen.

Drinking songs about whiskey, beer and the pub

11. "Whiskey, You're the Devil", The Clancy Brothers: a lively song blaming the drink.
12. "The Jug of Punch", traditional: a simple, cheerful drinking song.
13. "Nancy Whiskey", traditional: a weaver's tale of a drink that got the better of him.
14. "All for Me Grog", traditional: a sailor's song about spending everything on drink.
15. "The Moonshiner", traditional: a gentle, wistful drinking song.
16. "Streams of Whiskey", The Pogues: Shane MacGowan's rowdy tribute to Brendan Behan.
17. "Sally MacLennane", The Pogues: a fast, joyful Pogues favorite.
18. "Johnny Jump Up", traditional: a song about a famously strong cider.

Irish ballads for the end of the night

19. "The Parting Glass", traditional: the classic farewell song.
20. "Danny Boy", traditional words to the Londonderry Air: the most famous Irish ballad of all.
21. "The Fields of Athenry", Pete St. John: a modern folk song sung at rugby and football matches.
22. "Dirty Old Town", The Pogues and the Dubliners: Ewan MacColl's song, a pub staple.
23. "Raglan Road", Luke Kelly: Patrick Kavanagh's poem set to an old air.
24. "The Town I Loved So Well", Phil Coulter: a moving song about Derry.
25. "Grace", traditional-style ballad by Frank and Seán O'Meara: a love song from the 1916 Rising.
26. "Wild Mountain Thyme", traditional: a gentle Scottish-Irish love song.
27. "The Leaving of Liverpool", traditional: a sea song of farewell.
28. "Star of the County Down", traditional: a lilting love song.

Irish-American and Celtic punk favorites

29. "I'm Shipping Up to Boston", Dropkick Murphys: the Boston anthem.
30. "Rose Tattoo", Dropkick Murphys: a singalong about family and memory.
31. "Drunken Lullabies", Flogging Molly: a fast, furious Celtic punk favorite.
32. "If I Ever Leave This World Alive", Flogging Molly: a gentle, heartfelt farewell.
33. "Fairytale of New York", The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl: the Christmas pub classic.
34. "Galway Girl", Steve Earle: the modern folk singalong, recorded with Sharon Shannon.
35. "The Unicorn", The Irish Rovers: a children's favorite that every pub knows.

Sea shanties and session songs

36. "Drunken Sailor", traditional: the shanty every crowd knows.
37. "Spancil Hill", traditional: an emigrant's dream of home.
38. "The Holy Ground", traditional: a rousing sailor's farewell to Cobh.
39. "Whiskey on a Sunday", The Dubliners: a song about a street puppeteer.
40. "Irish Pub Song", The High Kings: a modern tribute to the pub itself.

The story behind Whiskey in the Jar

"Whiskey in the Jar" is a traditional ballad, centuries old, about a highwayman who robs an officer and is betrayed by the woman he loves. The Dubliners made it a pub standard in the 1960s, Thin Lizzy turned it into a rock hit in the early 70s, and Metallica's 1998 version won a Grammy. Few songs have crossed so easily from the folk session to the rock stage.

Is The Wild Rover really a drinking song?

"The Wild Rover" is sung in every pub, but its story is actually about giving up the drink: a young man who spent everything in the alehouse comes home and promises to change his ways. It may even have started as a temperance song. Today it is famous for the moment in the chorus when the whole pub claps together, and it is usually the first song a crowd joins.

Molly Malone, Dublin's anthem

"Molly Malone", also known as "Cockles and Mussels", tells of a fishmonger who sold her wares through Dublin's streets. Nobody knows if she really existed, but she has a statue in the city center, and the song is sung by Irish sports fans around the world as an unofficial anthem of Dublin.

Irish songs everyone knows

Beyond the pub, a few Irish and Irish-American songs are known by almost everyone: "Danny Boy", "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling", "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)", "Galway Bay" and "Molly Malone". They are favorites for St. Patrick's Day parades, Irish family gatherings and grandparents who grew up singing them.

The great Irish pub bands

Many of these songs are traditional, passed down for generations, and became famous through a handful of great bands. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem brought Irish folk songs to American audiences in the 1950s and 60s, and their Aran sweaters became iconic. The Dubliners, led by the voices of Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew, made raucous recordings of songs like "Seven Drunken Nights" and "Whiskey in the Jar". In the 1980s the Pogues, fronted by Shane MacGowan, mixed Irish folk with punk, and Boston's Dropkick Murphys and Los Angeles's Flogging Molly carried that sound into stadiums. MacGowan died in 2023, and his duet with Kirsty MacColl, "Fairytale of New York", still returns to the charts every Christmas.

Irish drinking songs for St. Patrick's Day

For a St. Patrick's Day party, start with "Whiskey in the Jar", "The Wild Rover" and "The Irish Rover", add "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" and "Drunken Lullabies" for energy, and finish with "The Parting Glass" and "Danny Boy". For more, see our Cranberries songs and Van Morrison songs for Irish rock and soul.

Songs for an Irish wake or funeral

At an Irish wake, sadness and laughter sit side by side. "The Parting Glass", "Danny Boy", "Grace" and "The Town I Loved So Well" are often sung, and "Finnegan's Wake" is sometimes chosen with a smile. For more, see our Irish funeral songs.

Irish songs for a wedding

For an Irish or Irish-American wedding, "Star of the County Down", "Wild Mountain Thyme" and "Galway Girl" are favorites, and "The Wild Rover" and "The Irish Rover" get the whole family on the dance floor. For more, see our Irish wedding songs.

The sound of an Irish pub session

A traditional Irish session is an informal gathering of musicians around a pub table. You will usually hear the fiddle, the tin whistle and flute, the bodhrán frame drum, the tenor banjo, the button accordion or concertina and sometimes the uilleann pipes, with a guitar or bouzouki keeping the rhythm. Between the fast jigs and reels, someone will often sing a ballad, and the whole room falls quiet to listen.

Songs for a farewell or a retirement party

For a send-off, "The Parting Glass", "The Leaving of Liverpool", "The Holy Ground" and "If I Ever Leave This World Alive" capture the bittersweet mood, and "The Wild Rover" makes sure the night ends with everyone singing. For more, see our farewell songs.

How to lead a pub singalong

• Start with a song everyone knows, like "The Wild Rover" or "Molly Malone", so the room joins in from the first chorus.
• Pick songs with call-and-response choruses or a spot to clap or stamp.
• Mix fast and slow: follow a rowdy number with a ballad, then lift the room again.
• Save "The Parting Glass" for the very end; it is the traditional goodbye.
• In a traditional session, wait for a pause and ask before starting a song.

Irish drinking songs for a birthday or a pub crawl

For an Irish-themed birthday or a pub crawl, "Seven Drunken Nights", "Whiskey in the Jar", "The Irish Rover" and "Galway Girl" keep the energy high. For more drinking songs from around the world, see our songs about drinking.

A song with their name in the chorus

The best pub songs are about real people and real places. A personalized song can put someone you love at the center of the singalong: their name, their hometown and the stories everyone tells about them. It makes a great St. Patrick's Day, birthday or retirement gift.

How to create a personalized song

1. Choose a style from 14 genres: folk, acoustic, rock and more.
2. Add their name.
3. Share three memories or details about them.
4. Review the lyrics and edit or regenerate them for free before any music is made.
5. Listen to 4 free 45-second previews and choose your favorite.

The full 3 to 4 minute song costs $35.99, or $40.99 for Premium with four full versions and editable lyrics. You get the MP3, a gift page and the lyrics as a PDF.

Give them a song of their own: create a song and hear four previews for free.