Tipperary - in Song

In Song

Welcoming signs on roads entering the town quip "You've come a long way..." in reference to the World War I-era song written by Englishmen Harry Williams and Jack Judge (whose grandparents came from Tipperary) "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", which became popular among the British military as a marching song. The U.S. Army, also at this time, included a song by John Alden Carpenter called The Home Road in its official 1918 song book which includes the lyric, "For the long, long road to Tipperary is the road that leads me home." A song of remembrance is "Tipperary so far away" which commemorates one of its famous sons, Seán Treacy (see above). In an address to the people of Ballyporeen on 3 June 1984, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, quoted a line from this famous song--" And I'll never more roam, from my own native home, in Tipperary so far away." There are other songs also with a Tipperary theme such as "Tipperary On My Mind"; "Slievenamon"; "Goodbye Mick"; "Galtee Mountain Boy"; "Katy Daly" (actually an American song) and "Forty Shades of Green", written by Johnny Cash.

Gary Moore's Song "Business as Usual" tells about him and his love: "I lost my virginity to a Tipperary woman." On Seventy Six The Band's 2006 release Gone Is Winter, the song "Carry On" also states that it is "a long way to Tipperary." Shane MacGowan's song "Broad Majestic Shannon" includes the lyric "Heard the men coming home from the fair at Shinrone, their hearts in Tipperary wherever they go".