Once upon a time there was, Irish ways and Irish laws Villages of Irish Blood, awaking to the morning, awaking to the morning Then the Vikings came around, turned us up & turned us down, Started buildings huts and towns, They tried to change our living, tried to change our living Cromwell and his soldiers came, started centuries of shame, But they could not make us turn,we are a river flowing, we are a river flowing Again, again the soldiers came, burnt our houses, stole our grain, Shot the farmers in their fields, Working for a living, working for a living Eight hundred years we have been down,The secret of the water sound, Has kept the spirit of a man, Above the pain descending, above the pain descending Today the struggle carries on,I wonder will I live so long, To see the gates being opened up, To a people & their freedom, a people & their freedom Once upon a time there was, Irish ways and Irish laws Villages of Irish Blood, awaking to the morning, awaking to the morning