It was written by Paul McCartney and his wife Linda in response to the events of Bloody Sunday, on 30 January that year, when British troops in Northern Ireland shot dead thirteen civil rights protestors.
Following the release of his band Wings' debut album, Wild Life, in December 1971, Paul McCartney spent Christmas and New Year in New York visiting the family of his wife and bandmate Linda.
In January 1972, Wings began rehearsing in London with a new fifth member, Northern Irishman Henry McCullough, on lead guitar,[9] who joined on the recommendation of the band's guitarist and occasional singer, Denny Laine.
[14][15] With strong familial connections to Ireland on his late mother's side, McCartney was appalled at Britain's role in what became known as Bloody Sunday,[16][17] and penned his protest song the very next day.
"[18] Two days after Bloody Sunday, McCartney arranged a session with Wings to rush-record "Give Ireland Back to the Irish", turning up at EMI Studios unannounced.
[16] Kozinn and Sinclair also note that soon after the single was issued, McCullough's brother, Victor, was assaulted while drinking at a pub in Kilburn - the glassing, a result of his tenuous connection with McCartney's song.
[24][25] McCartney used this rather than another song since, anticipating problems over the political content, he thought that if disc jockeys decided to favour the B-side to avoid the lyrics being heard, they would still have to mention the track's title.
[24] Seeking to emulate the low-fidelity quality of Jamaican reggae singles, where instrumental dubs were commonly used as B-sides,[24] McCartney gave the track a muddy-sounding mix, with barely any high-end sound.
[29]Wings played "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" throughout their first concert tour, which consisted of a series of unannounced shows at universities in England and Wales over 9–23 February.
"[34] Writing about the tour for the NME, Geoff Liptrot said the band's performances were generally good, but the song "grated a little with its harsh, sing-song chorus immediately conjuring up visions of a drunk rolling along a street bellowing at the top of his voice".
[24] On 7 March, Wings were filmed rehearsing "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" at the McCartneys' St John's Wood home in London for a segment on ABC News in the United States.
[44][nb 4] McCartney told the ABC reporter that he did not plan to focus on politics in his work, but that "on this one occasion I think the British government overstepped the mark and showed themselves to be more of a sort of oppressive regime than I ever believed them to be.
[46] According to author Bruce Spizer, listeners there felt alienated by McCartney's political stance and "Airplay was so marginal that the song, for all practical purposes, was also banned by American radio.
[52] In 2018, footage of rehearsals for the song, at the McCartneys' home and at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London before the 1972 university tour, was included on the DVD in the remastered deluxe edition of Wild Life.
[59][60] In a review of Lennon's 1972 album Some Time in New York City, which included two political songs about Ireland, Richard Williams of Melody Maker wrote: "how sad that the only thing in years on which he and Paul have agreed should have drawn from both their very worst work.
[64] Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter describe the song's lyrics as "clumsy (yet well-intentioned)" and comment that McCartney fully exploited the "'hip' cachet" resulting from the radio ban in his print advertising for the release.
[18] "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and McCartney's political stance formed one of the Beatles-related parodies included on National Lampoon magazine's 1972 album Radio Dinner.