Madcap, you're slightly off. He leaves Tuam (in the west) to look for work in Dublin. When he gets there, he's not welcome (because Dublin people traditionally don't like anybody from outside the city) and so he jumps on a boat going to England. When he gets to Liverpool (in England, not Galway), a bunch of English guys start slagging him for begin Irish, so he gets annoyed and starts into them with his shillelagh. A bunch of other Irish guys (from Galway, where Tuam is) see he's in trouble and join in the fight. Wherever the guy goes, he's not welcome and he has to fight his way through life. Very Irish.
One other thing, for some reason the lyrics here say "daddy" instead of "Paddy". What's that about? Maybe it's not widely known that Irish are derisively referred to as Paddies? It's because we're all called Patrick, apparently. Similar to the American "Yankee", I suppose.
And, Rover, I like the original. If you hear it sung well it can be just as fast as the DKM version. The main difference is that there's no punk instruments in the background (in fact, the best version I heard was sung with just a bodhran in the background. BTW, for anybody unfamiliar with Irish music in the audience, a Bodhran is a type of drum. Google it.)
Madcap, you're slightly off. He leaves Tuam (in the west) to look for work in Dublin. When he gets there, he's not welcome (because Dublin people traditionally don't like anybody from outside the city) and so he jumps on a boat going to England. When he gets to Liverpool (in England, not Galway), a bunch of English guys start slagging him for begin Irish, so he gets annoyed and starts into them with his shillelagh. A bunch of other Irish guys (from Galway, where Tuam is) see he's in trouble and join in the fight. Wherever the guy goes, he's not welcome and he has to fight his way through life. Very Irish. One other thing, for some reason the lyrics here say "daddy" instead of "Paddy". What's that about? Maybe it's not widely known that Irish are derisively referred to as Paddies? It's because we're all called Patrick, apparently. Similar to the American "Yankee", I suppose. And, Rover, I like the original. If you hear it sung well it can be just as fast as the DKM version. The main difference is that there's no punk instruments in the background (in fact, the best version I heard was sung with just a bodhran in the background. BTW, for anybody unfamiliar with Irish music in the audience, a Bodhran is a type of drum. Google it.)