Rocky Road To Dublin chords & lyrics

by The High Kings

Rocky Road To Dublin is a traditional folk song - author unknown. The lyrics were written by D.K. Gavan, also known as 'The Galway Poet'.
This version by The High Kings is featured on their self-titled album.

Music: Key of D Minor in 9/8 time at 34 bpm ()
Chords: Dm, C, Am, Am7, F, Gm, Gm7... charts below

Song Chart
Chord Charts

The Rocky Road To Dublin by The HighKings

         
Intro: 9/8 
                
          Dm
1. In the mer-ry month of June___ From me home I start-ed
                              C
   Left the girls of Tuam___ Near-ly bro-ken hear-ted
      Dm
   Sa-lu-ted fa-ther dear___ Kissed me dar-lin' mo-ther
                                C
   Drank a pint of beer___ Me grief and tears to smo-ther
        Dm  
   Then off to reap the corn___ Leave where I was born
   Dm                            C
   Cut a stout black-thorn___ To ba-nish ghost and go-blins
      Dm
   A bran' new pair of brogues___ Rat-tlin' o'er the bogs
     Dm                          C
   Fright-e-nin' all the dogs___ On the r-ocky road to Du-blin

        Dm                           C
Chorus: One two three four five___  Hunt the hare and turn her
         Dm                      C
        Down the ro-cky road___ All the way to Du-blin
         Dm
        Whack fol-lol-le-ra___

      Dm
2. In Mul-lin-gar that night___ I res-ted limbs so wea-ry
                                C
   Star-ted by day-light___ Me spi-rits bright and ai-ry
    Dm
   Took a drop of the pure___ Keep me heart from sin-kin'
                                    C
   That's the Pad-dy's cure___ When-e-ver he's on for drin-king
      Dm
   To see the las-sies smile___ Laugh-in' all the while
   Dm                                C
   At me cu-ri-ous style___ 'Twould set your heart-a-bub-blin'
         Dm
   And asked if I was hired___ Wa-ges I re-quired
    Dm                         C
   Till I was near-ly tired___ Of the ro-cky road to Du-blin

        Dm                           C
Chorus: One two three four five___  Hunt the hare and turn her
         Dm                      C
        Down the ro-cky road___ All the way to Du-blin
         Dm
        Whack fol-lol-le-ra___

      Dm
3. In Du-blin next ar-rived___ I thought it such a pi-ty
                                 C
   To be so soon de-prived___ A view of that fine ci-ty
         Dm
   Well then I took a stroll___ All a-mong the qual-i-ty
                               C
   Bun-dle it was stole___ All in the neat lo-cal-i-ty
    Dm 
   Some-thing crossed my mind___ When I looked be-hind
      Dm                         C
   No bun-dle could I find___ U-pon me stick a-wob-blin'
       Dm
   En-quir-in' for the rogue___ Said me Con-naught brogue
    Dm                     C
   Wasn't much in vogue___ On the ro-cky road to Du-blin

        Dm                           C
Chorus: One two three four five___  Hunt the hare and turn her
         Dm                      C
        Down the ro-cky road___ All the way to Du-blin
         Dm
        Whack fol-lol-le-ra___

         Dm
4. From there I got a-way___ Me spi-rits ne-ver fai-lin'
                               C
   Lan-ded on the Quay___ Just as the ship was sai-lin'
       Dm
   The Cap-tain at me roared___ Said that no room had he
                              C
   When I jumped a-board___ A ca-bin found for Pad-dy
    Dm  
   Down among the pigs___ Played some fun-ny rigs
     Dm                           C
   Danced some par-ty jigs___ The wa-ter round me bub-blin'
    Dm
   When off Ho-ly-head___ Wished me-self was dead
      Dm                      C
   Or bet-ter far in-stead___ On the ro-cky road to Du-blin

        Dm                           C
Chorus: One two three four five___  Hunt the hare and turn her
         Dm                      C
        Down the ro-cky road___ All the way to Du-blin
         Dm
        Whack fol-lol-le-ra___

Instr:  |  C  |  F  |  C  |  F  |  Gm  |  F  |  Gm  |  Gm7  |
        |  C  |  F  |  C  |  F  |  Gm  |  F  |  Gm  |  Am   |  Am7  |
        |     Dm    |     Dm    |     Dm     |      Dm      |

        Dm
5. The boys of Li-ver-pool___ When we safe-ly lan-ded
                                C
   Called me-self a fool___ I could no lon-ger stand it
    Dm
   Blood be-gan to boil___ Tem-per I was lo-sin'
                             C
   Poor old E-rin's Isle___ They be-gan a-bus-in'
        Dm
   "Hur-rah me soul" says I___ Me shil-le-lagh I let fly
   Dm                             C
   Gal-way boys were nigh___ And saw I was a hob-blin’
    Dm
   With a loud hur-ray___ Joined in the af-fray
       Dm                          C
   We quick-ly cleared the way___ For the ro-cky road to Du-blin

        Dm                           C
Chorus: One two three four five___  Hunt the hare and turn her
         Dm                      C
        Down the ro-cky road___ All the way to Du-blin
         Dm                     C 
        Whack fol-lol-le-ra___ Hunt the hare and turn her
         Dm                      C
        Down the ro-cky road___ All the way to Du-blin
         Dm
        Whack fol-lol-le-ra___ Whack fol-lol-le-ra___ Whack fol-lol-le-ra...

Free Music Transposition Simply highlight & copy the entire song chart above - then click on the link... more
Key, note & chord transposition chart
Rocky Road to Dublin chords and lyrics

D Minor

Numbered Circles: Chord fingering - number inside circle indicates which finger to use
Unmarked strings: Play open
X: Don't play string
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings
R: Root Note

Right Handed Charts:

Left Handed Charts:

Notes:

Level Of Ease: Fairy Easy. There are 2 barre chords - Gm & Gm7 which are very easy to play.
Because the song is so lively and fast-paced, it is sometimes performed as an instrumental usually by a fiddle player. It is considered to be a slip jig, sometimes known as a hop jig.
In this video, the band doesn't start playing till the very end of verse 3 going into the chorus. I have included chords for the whole song anyway.
Song Key: This version of the song is in the key of Dm which is the relative minor of F major - 1 flat (B♭)
9/8: This means 9 eighth-note/quaver beats per bar, therefore the count is:
|♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪| = |1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | or | | = | 123 223 323| etc.
Tempo: 134 bpm on every dotted quarter note/crotchet, otherwise the metronome will be 'flying out the window' if you set it to play on every eighth-note/quaver beat! This means the click will be on every 3rd eighth-note/quaver beat. |♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪| This is a great example of Compound Triple Time.
It's very rare to come across a tempo like this in modern music - a great practice piece for broadening your musical horizons.
In the 'download' version, the chords in brackets, i.e., (Am), (C), means the chords are optional. You can play them or omit them... the choice is yours.

The High Kings

L-R: Finbarr Clancy, Martin Furey, Brian Dunphy, Darren Holden

The High Kings are Irish Balladeers who were formed in Dublin by Dave Kavanagh, who is also the manager of Celtic Woman. The first members of the band were Brian Dunphy and Darren Holden. They both had successful careers on Broadway in such musicals as Riverdance, and Movin' Out. Soon after, Finbarr Clancy andj Martin Furey joined the band, both of which have close family ties with 2 of Ireland's most famous folk bands, The Clancy Brothers and The Fureys.

In 2008 the band was launched, and had tremendous success with their self-titled debut album reaching the top of the Amazon music charts worldwide and reaching No 2 on the Billboard world music charts. They have toured throughout Europe and the US making numerous television appearances along the way. They also performed for President Barack Obama when he visited Moneygall, Ireland in May 2011. This band is made up of 4 very talented young men with amazing musical credentials and Irish blood running through their veins.

The Band

Finbarr Clancy was born in Carrick-on-suir, County Tipperary Ireland on March 5, 1970. His father and uncles belonged to the popular Irish folk band, The Clancy Brothers. He toured with them throughout North America in 1995 and became a permanent member in 2002 with the passing of his uncle, Paddy and father, Bobby. After touring the US, Finbarr moved back to Ireland and soon after found himself a member of The High Kings. He sings and plays the banjo, guitar, bodhran and flute... more

Brian Dunphy was born in Dublin City. He is the son of showband legend, Sean Dunphy. An accomplished singer, he played roles in several musicals including The Rocky Horror Picture Show and scored the leading role in Riverdance The Show. He spent 2 years on Broadway in Radio City Music Hall as the lead vocalist. After Riverdance, he joined The Three Irish Tenors and is now experiencing continued success with The High Kings. He sings and plays the bodhran... more

Martin Furey was born in Count Waterford and is a folk singer and songwriter. His love of Irish music is attributed greatly to the influences of his father and Uncles who were all members of the hugely successful Irish Folk Band, The Fureys. While studying Scottish Literature and History at Prince's University in Edinburgh, he formed the band, Sam Harlet, and were very successful throughout Scotland. In 1992, he joined his sister Aine Furey, to form the band Bohinta which was hugely successful throughout Europe. He has since joined the High Kings and his background of Irish Folk Music has been a great asset to the band. Martin sings and plays many instruments, including the banjo, guitar, Uillean Pipes, bouzouki and tin whistles... more

Darren Holden is an exceptional vocalist, songwriter and musician. He was born in Mooncoin which is situated in the far south of County Kilkenny, Ireland. He had great success on Broadway starring as Billy Joel in the hit musical, Movin' Out for 4 years, and then spent 3 years as the lead singer with Riverdance. He is a successful recording artist in his own right, being among the top ten recording artists in Ireland. He also toured with the popular band, Boyzone during their first tour of England and Ireland. He has since joined The High Kings and enjoys singing many of the songs he enjoyed as a child. Darren sings and plays the piano, the bodhran and the accordion... more