[2] The song describes a veteran of the Easter Rising telling a young man about his old comrades in the Irish Republican Army.
Each chorus ends with the Irish language phrase "a ghrá mo chroí (love of my heart), I long to see, the Boys of the Old Brigade".
A Ghra Mo Chroi, I long to see The boys of the old brigade From hills and farms the call to arms Was heard by one and all And from the glen came brave young men To answer Ireland’s call T'was long ago we faced the foe The old brigade and me And by my side they fought and died That Ireland might be free Where are the lads that stood with me When history was made?
A Ghra Mo Chroi, I long to see The boys of the old brigade And now, my boy, I’ve told you why On Easter morn' I sigh For I recall my comrades all Of dark old days gone by I think of men who fought in glen With rifle and grenade May heaven keep the men who sleep From the ranks of the old brigade Where are the lads that stood with me When history was made?
A Ghra Mo Chroi, I long to see The boys of the old brigade In 2006, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell suggested that he was embarrassed by "offensive" chants in support of the Provisional IRA, even though these songs were political and not "overtly sectarian".