Son of Ireland

I woke up in my cell today, four walls where I'm confined
With shackles on my wrists and feet, they cannot chain my mind
For I was born a patriot of scholars and of saints
I'll be a son of Ireland, until my dying day

Born unto a father who would work 'til his hands bled
I watched those war cat soldiers remove him from his bed
And fill him full of rounds until they left him where he lay
He was a son of Ireland until his dying day

I think of my poor brother who gave his life to free
The people of his home where he grew up, just him and me
And I weep because I cannot go and sit beside his grave
He was a son of Ireland until his dying day

To all my active comrades so fearless volunteers
Your names and acts of defiance will whisper through the years
They rid our land of iron hands is what the youth will say
Oh, you all were sons of Ireland until your dying day

And all the men that went before, from Connolly to Sands
We did our best to insure your names would always last
From the GPO and four courts to the H blocks where you lay
You all were sons of Ireland until your dying day

They opened up my cell today to find it was my last
For in the night, I passed away of skin, and bone, and rags
And I spoke to God, and he told, "me son there's one thing left to say"
You were a son of Ireland, today's your dying day