Rocky Road to Dublin

The words were written by D. K. Gavan, "The Galway Poet", for the English music hall performer Harry Clifton (1832–1872), who popularized the song.

a similar expression to other colloquialisms such as "Making paper" or "Stacking bread") He begins his journey by bidding farewell to his family and friends and preparing supplies.

He hops a ship in the harbour headed for England, and is placed in the hold with the pigs, where he experiences severe sea sickness off the coast of Holyhead, Wales.

Losing his temper, he engages them in a fight using his blackthorn shillelagh, but is outnumbered until a group of Irishmen from Galway come to his rescue ("join in the affray"), the first people who have helped him on his trip.

Most interpretations of the twentieth century omit the second and antepenultimate verse, and replace the original chorus by the following: The song is partially recited several times by Mr Deasy in James Joyce's novel Ulysses.