Intro: G-G-F-C F-C-Am-G F-G-C-F-F F-C-G-C-C
So (C)Whelan, (Am)Moran, (G)Bryan, Doyle, (C)Flood
- (F)Have you (G)ever heard their (C)name? -
Like (G)Ryan and Traynor, (D)Foley, (G)Maher -
They’re (F)nine men (C)dwarfed by (G)Barry’s (C)fame. -C
Chorus
All (G)took the road that (F)Barry (C)went,
Met (Am)fate on (F)England’s (C)scaffold (G)high,
Suc(F)ceeded (G)him whose (C)name is (F)sung, -F
Though (C)just the first of (G)ten to (C)die. -C
They (C)took Tom (Am)Whelan (G)after (C)mass
On (F)Bloody (G)Sunday’s fateful (C)morn
And (G)framed him on a (D)murder (G)charge
By (F)one false (C)testi(G)mony (C)sworn. -C
A (G)grand old women’s (F)guiltless (C)son
Con(Am)demned to (F)find a (C)felon’s (G)grave
Who (F)hugged his (G)warder (C)for fare(F)well -F
And (C)made him change to (G)Catholic (C)faith -C
And (C)Patrick (Am)Moran – (G)just the (C)same
Was (F)witnessed (G)many miles a(C)way
A (G)union chairman (D)well es(G)teemed
And (F)Captain (C)of the (G)IR(C)A. -C
His (G)conscience pure, he (F)said ‘For (C)sure,
Un(Am)til next (F)Christmas
(C)I’ll be (G)free!’
Yet (F)on his (G)birthday’s (C)early (F)dawn -F
Hung (C)lifeless from the (G)gallows (C)tree -C
Chorus: They (G)took the road…
Pat (C)Doyle was (Am)one of (G)four more (C)men
The (F)English (G)killed that very (C)day,
Ac(G)cused as traitors (D)to the (G)crown
Yet (F)Irish (C)soldiers (G)caught in (C)fray. -C
He (G)met his newborn (F)twins two (C)days
Be(Am)fore he (F)paid the (C)highest (G)price
And (F)one of (G)them died (C)on the (F)spot -F
To (C)join their dad in (G)para(C)dise. -C
Just (C)four shorts (Am)months be(G)fore that (C)date
Tom (F)Bryan had (G)wed his fair young (C)bride
A (G)man of craic and (D)volun(G)teer
Who (F)joined Tom (C)Ashe in (G)hunger (C)strike. -C
His (G)name was known to (F)England (C)well
His (Am)sentence (F)mere for(C)mali(G)ty
For (F)levying (G)war on (C)Irish (F)soil -F
In (C)brazen hopes to (G)set it (C)free. -C
Chorus: They (G)took the road…
Frank (C)Flood was (Am)Barry’s (G)pal from (C)school,
Stood (F)by his (G)side in Erin’s (C)band
A (G)serious boy who (D)studied (G)hard
And (F)dearly (C)dreamt to (G)free his (C)land. -C
He (G)sought to wave the (F)Irish (C)flag
On (Am)Sackville (F)Street on (C)victory (G)day
And (F)prayed for (G)both his (C)friends and (F)foes -F
The (C)hour he went his (G)final (C)way. -C
And (C)with him (Am)went young (G)Bernard (C)Ryan
A (F)quite lad – (G)twenty-one of (C)age,
Fond (G)lover of the (D)Gaelic (G)tongue
And (F)earner (C)of a (G)family’s (C)wage. -C
He (G)slept so soundly (F)his last (C)night -
One (Am)had to (F)wake him (C)to be (G)hung -
A(F)ssured to (G)wear a (C)Fainné (alt. halo) (F)soon -F
An (C)angel with an (G)Irish (C)tongue. -C
Chorus: They (G)took the road…
Bridge: G-G-F-C F-C-Am-G F-G-C-F-F F-C-G-C-C
The (C)six had (Am)gone just (G)some few (C)hours
When (F)doom reached (G)for a Carlow (C)man
Who’d (G)saved a rebel (D)country(G)man,
But (F)took his (C)place as (G)scapegoat (C)then. -C
So (G)Thomas Traynor (F)stood his (C)trial
Was (Am)battered (F)by the (C)Igoe (G)Gang
And (F)ten poor (G)weans soon (C)mourned their (F)‘Da’
When (C)five weeks later (G)he would (C)hang. -C
Chorus: He (G)took the road…
Ned (C)Foley, (Am)he was (G)Limerick (C)born
A (F)handsome (G)man - a farmer’s (C)son,
A (G)member of the (D)Knocklong (G)raid
The (F)Tans a(C)rrested (G)on the (C)run. -C
They (G)sent him o’er to (F)Limerick (C)Jail
Where (Am)two hung (F)juries (C)gave him (G)hope
Un(F)til a (G)less prim (C)Dublin (F)court -F
Did (C)send him to the (G)hangman’s (C)rope. -C
And (C)second (Am)of these (G)last poor (C)guys
Was (F)Patrick (G)Maher, from Limerick, (C)too.
A (G)clerk at Knocklong (D)Station (G)though
Yet (F)inno(C)cent as (G)me and (C)you. -C
His (G)last deep wish was (F)‘Let me (C)rest
At (Am)home in (F)Bally(C)landers’ (G)ground.’
But (F)then for (G)more than (C)eighty (F)years -F
He (C)was to lie in (G)jail soil (C)bound. -C
Chorus: They (G)took the road…
Bridge: G-G-F-C F-C-Am-G F-G-C-F-F F-C-G-C-C
And (C)Kevin (Am)Barry, (G)here’s to (C)you
The (F)first and (G)youngest one of (C)ten
Who (G)gave their lives for (D)Ireland’s (G)sake
Re(F)member (C)these brave (G)Irish(C)men! -C
(F)And the (C)Road, that (G7)they all (C)went. -G-C-G7-C
