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St. Patrick's Day karaoke songs

St. Patrick's Day karaoke songs are a pub singalong with a sign-up list. Have an Irish song ready, and a backup for when someone takes yours.

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Before you sing it

Where it sits

How hard

Easy goingSome effortA big sing

Most songs below show where they sit and how hard they are. Open one for what to sing next and a little trivia.

The night starts early, the room is loud and forgiving, and the same Irish songs come round again and again. Whiskey in the Jar already on the list? That's your cue for the backup.

Leave the accent at home. A shaky voice gets forgiven. A bad Irish accent gets remembered.

The old folk songs shine in a proper Irish pub. The rock ones and the rowdy Irish-American ones work anywhere.

Irish acts

Irish bands and Irish voices

Rock and pop by Irish acts. On theme, no folk song needed.

  • Whiskey in the Jar

    Thin Lizzy

    An Irish folk song played as rock, and the chorus is mostly nonsense syllables, so nobody can say you got the words wrong.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1The Boys Are Back in TownThin Lizzy
    2. Song 2LingerThe Cranberries
    3. Song 3Brown Eyed GirlVan Morrison

    Did you know

    1. This early '70s hit gave Thin Lizzy their first major international commercial breakthrough.
    2. Guitarist Eric Bell created the song's iconic rock riff.

  • The Boys Are Back in Town

    Thin Lizzy

    Cool, chatty verses and a chorus the whole pub shouts — it wants swagger more than voice.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1LingerThe Cranberries
    2. Song 2Brown Eyed GirlVan Morrison
    3. Song 3Mustang SallyThe Commitments

    Did you know

    1. The song became Thin Lizzy's signature track and their biggest international hit in the mid-1970s.

  • With or Without You

    U2

    Starts low and patient and stays there a long time; the one big moment comes late, and you can keep it small.

    ListenLyrics

    A big sing
    Before you sing itA big sing
    A big sing

    Did you know

    1. Bono wrote the lyrics while struggling to reconcile his domestic life with his rock star career.
    2. Guitarist The Edge created the song's distinctive soaring sound using an Infinite Guitar prototype.

  • Linger

    The Cranberries

    Soft, slow and never loud — the Cranberries song for anyone who knows Zombie is beyond them.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Brown Eyed GirlVan Morrison
    2. Song 2Mustang SallyThe Commitments
    3. Song 3Nothing Compares 2 USinéad O'Connor

    Did you know

    1. It was the band's breakthrough hit and their first major success in the United States.
    2. Lead singer Dolores O'Riordan wrote the lyrics about her very first serious kiss.

  • Brown Eyed Girl

    Van Morrison

    Van Morrison is from Belfast, so it counts; steady and cheerful, with a wordless singalong near the end.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Easy going
    Before you sing itMiddle · Easy going

    Sits in the middle

    Easy going

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Mustang SallyThe Commitments
    2. Song 2Nothing Compares 2 USinéad O'Connor
    3. Song 3Danny BoyTraditional

  • Take Me to Church

    Hozier

    The verses are low and slow; the chorus is big and keeps coming back, so it rewards anyone who has saved their voice.

    ListenLyrics

    A big sing
    Before you sing itA big sing
    A big sing

    Did you know

    1. Hozier wrote the song in his parents' attic in Ireland before it became a massive worldwide smash hit.
    2. The viral music video tackled discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in Russia.

  • Mustang Sally

    The Commitments

    From the Dublin film about a soul band — a gravelly voice suits it, and the room sings the answers back.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Nothing Compares 2 USinéad O'Connor
    2. Song 2Danny BoyTraditional
    3. Song 3The Irish RoverThe Pogues & The Dubliners

    Did you know

    1. Andrew Strong was only sixteen years old when he recorded lead vocals for the film's soundtrack.

  • Nothing Compares 2 U

    Sinéad O'Connor

    Slow and bare with nothing to hide behind; the pub goes quiet for it, so only pick it if you mean it.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Danny BoyTraditional
    2. Song 2The Irish RoverThe Pogues & The Dubliners
    3. Song 3I'm Shipping Up to BostonDropkick Murphys

    Did you know

    1. The song became a massive global number-one hit, accompanied by an iconic close-up music video.
    2. Sinéad O'Connor's real tears at the end of the video were completely unscripted.

Pub songs

The old songs every Irish pub knows

Folk songs pubs have sung for generations, carried by a room that knows them better than you do.

  • The Wild Rover

    The Dubliners

    The chorus has claps built in, and every pub knows exactly where they go.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits on the low side

    Easy going
    Before you sing itLow side · Easy going

    Sits on the low side

    Easy going

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Dirty Old TownThe Pogues
    2. Song 2The Fields of AthenryPaddy Reilly

    Did you know

    1. Crowds around the world enthusiastically clap four times during the chorus pauses.

  • Danny Boy

    Traditional

    Slow and lovely until the high bit near the end — and the room will be quiet enough to hear how that goes.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1The Irish RoverThe Pogues & The Dubliners
    2. Song 2I'm Shipping Up to BostonDropkick Murphys
    3. Song 3Jump AroundHouse of Pain

    Did you know

    1. The lyrics were written by English lawyer Frederic Weatherly to the traditional Irish melody Londonderry Air.

  • Molly Malone

    Traditional

    Short, sad and slow, and the whole room joins the street-seller's cry in the chorus.

    ListenLyrics

  • The Irish Rover

    The Pogues & The Dubliners

    Fast and packed with words; read ahead on the screen and the room will stamp along.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1I'm Shipping Up to BostonDropkick Murphys
    2. Song 2Jump AroundHouse of Pain
    3. Song 3TubthumpingChumbawamba

    Did you know

    1. This spirited collaboration paired The Pogues with veteran Irish folk group The Dubliners.

  • Dirty Old Town

    The Pogues

    The gentlest Pogues song to sing: steady, unhurried, and a rough voice suits it.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits on the low side

    Easy going
    Before you sing itLow side · Easy going

    Sits on the low side

    Easy going

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1The Fields of AthenryPaddy Reilly
    2. Song 2The Wild RoverThe Dubliners

    Did you know

    1. The song was originally written by Ewan MacColl in the late '40s about Salford, England.

  • The Fields of Athenry

    Paddy Reilly

    Slow and proud, and in an Irish pub the whole room will sing the chorus back at you.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits on the low side

    Some effort
    Before you sing itLow side · Some effort

    Sits on the low side

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1The Wild RoverThe Dubliners
    2. Song 2Dirty Old TownThe Pogues

    Did you know

    1. Paddy Reilly's recording spent over a year on the Irish singles charts during the 1980s.

Called every year

Called every year, Irish or not

Some are Irish-American, some aren't Irish at all. The bar calls them every March anyway.

  • Come On Eileen

    Dexys Midnight Runners

    Not Irish, but called every year; the trap is where it slows right down and then speeds up, so know it's coming.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits on the high side

    A big sing
    Before you sing itHigh side · A big sing

    Sits on the high side

    A big sing

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)The Proclaimers

    Did you know

    1. The infectious fiddle hook was inspired by traditional Celtic folk melodies.
    2. The song famously topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in the early 1980s.

  • I'm Shipping Up to Boston

    Dropkick Murphys

    Barely two and a half minutes, shouted rather than sung, and the band plays more of it than you do.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Jump AroundHouse of Pain
    2. Song 2TubthumpingChumbawamba
    3. Song 3Galway GirlEd Sheeran

    Did you know

    1. The lyrics are based on an unfinished poem found in the archives of folk icon Woody Guthrie.
    2. The song achieved mainstream fame after featuring prominently in Martin Scorsese's The Departed.

  • Jump Around

    House of Pain

    Irish-American, fast and rapped — but nobody is listening to the verses, they're waiting to jump.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1TubthumpingChumbawamba
    2. Song 2Galway GirlEd Sheeran
    3. Song 3Whiskey in the JarThin Lizzy

  • I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

    The Proclaimers

    Scottish, not Irish, and no pub holds that against it; the room takes the wordless bits in the chorus.

    two voices singing the same line together, the way the twins who made it do

    ListenLyrics

    Sits on the high side

    Some effort
    Before you sing itHigh side · Some effort

    Sits on the high side

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Come On EileenDexys Midnight Runners

    Did you know

    1. The song found massive international success years after its initial release when featured in Benny & Joon.

  • Tubthumping

    Chumbawamba

    The chorus is shouted, not sung, and the verses are short enough to half-talk.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Easy going
    Before you sing itMiddle · Easy going

    Sits in the middle

    Easy going

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Galway GirlEd Sheeran
    2. Song 2Whiskey in the JarThin Lizzy
    3. Song 3The Boys Are Back in TownThin Lizzy

    Did you know

    1. The band was an anarchist punk collective before scoring this mainstream pop mega-hit.

  • Galway Girl

    Ed Sheeran

    Quick, wordy verses with a fiddle behind them, and a chorus a pub full of people can catch up with.

    ListenLyrics

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort
    Before you sing itMiddle · Some effort

    Sits in the middle

    Some effort

    Sing nextSame spot for your voice

    1. Song 1Whiskey in the JarThin Lizzy
    2. Song 2The Boys Are Back in TownThin Lizzy
    3. Song 3LingerThe Cranberries

    Did you know

    1. The song incorporates traditional Irish folk instrumentation performed by the band Beoga.
    2. Saoirse Ronan stars in the music video, which was shot entirely from Sheeran's point of view.

Know which one's yours next March

Plenty of people sing an Irish song once a year, then forget how it went. Log it in KaraokeList on the night: stars, plus Too high, Just right or Too low.

Tag the pub singalongs Fun. Save Skill for the ones you could sing sober on a Tuesday.

Want a new one? Tap the Magic Mic for songs you don't have yet, each with its reason. Pub playing something you can't name? Tap + and Listen for it.

Questions

What are good St. Patrick's Day karaoke songs?

Whiskey in the Jar, The Wild Rover and I'm Shipping Up to Boston are the ones every bar expects. Come On Eileen and 500 Miles aren't Irish, but they get called every March anyway.

What Irish songs are easy to sing at karaoke?

Brown Eyed Girl, by Belfast's Van Morrison, is steady and comfortable. The Wild Rover and Molly Malone are slow and simple, and a pub crowd carries the choruses for you.

Is Come On Eileen an Irish song?

No. Dexys Midnight Runners formed in Birmingham, England, but the fiddles and folk sound mean it gets played every St. Patrick's Day regardless.

What is the Irish song with the claps in the chorus?

The Wild Rover. The chorus leaves a gap after its opening line, and the whole pub fills it with claps.

Also try

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