They are best known for their international television series, contributing to the popularization of Irish Music in North America, and for the songs "The Unicorn", "Drunken Sailor", "Wasn't That a Party", "The Orange and the Green", "Whiskey on a Sunday", "Lily the Pink", "Finnegan's Wake" and "The Black Velvet Band".

Founding member George Millar and his cousin Ian are both from Ballymena, Davey Walker from Armagh, Sean O'Driscoll from Cork, Gerry O'Connor from Dundalk, percussionist Fred Graham from Belfast.

According to a Calgary Herald article in 1971, "George and Jimmy formed the first Irish Rovers for an amateur variety show in Toronto and won."

George's father, Bob, became The Irish Rovers's first manager booking the new band at folk song festivals, clubs, hootenannies and The Port o' Call.

[1] According to a 1964 newspaper in the Millars' home town in Ireland, "The folk singing 'boom' in the United States and Canada proved profitable for three young Ballymena men who form the nucleus of a popular, Toronto-based group who call themselves 'The Irish Rovers.'"

The Irish Rovers became regulars at Calgary's Depression Coffeehouse, a folk club operated by John Uren that also contributed to the start of Joni Mitchell's career.

On the way, their car broke down near Dinucci's Restaurant in Valley Ford, CA which was briefly owned by two Irish immigrants Jerry Murphy and Peter Moran.

The boys were given room and board and an introduction to Jan Brainerd, a booking agent who helped them secure an appearance at The Purple Onion in San Francisco where they played sold-out houses for five months.

The area they stayed at on this booking became the inspiration for their song "Mrs. Crandall's Boarding House", according to their 1999 album The best of the Irish Rovers (which has a booklet in the front of its CD case).

Starting in the late 60s, the Irish Rovers performed on various North American television programs including several appearances on the TV western The Virginian, as well as The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Mike Douglas Show, The Dating Game, The Pig and Whistle, and The Beachcombers.

Renamed The Rovers, the group scored a major international hit with "Wasn't That a Party" and also found success with the Christmas novelty recording "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer".

Guest stars included their friends The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Bobby Darin, Glen Campbell, Vera Lynn and Anne Murray.

Producer and Director Ken Gibson and Michael Watt often hosted special effects technicians from L.A. who were learning the new green screen technology, which were used for comedic leprechaun segments featuring Will, George and Jimmy, and is later used in The Mother Goose Video Treasury in 1987.

Their third television series, Party with the Rovers, ran from 1984 to 1986 with Jack Richardson as musical director and Ken Gibson as Executive Producer.

Locations for the special included Dunluce Castle, Carnlough Harbour, Portglenone, and various spots along the northeast coast of Northern Ireland.

[9] In 2012 The Irish Rovers Christmas television special, which was filmed at various locations in Banff National Park, Sunshine Village and Chatham-Kent's Capitol Theatre, was shown across the PBS Network throughout the US and Canada and was broadcast in New Zealand on Sky TV.

Shaw Communications also filmed behind the scenes at the event for a music documentary titled "The Irish Rovers 50th Anniversary Special".

The two-DVD set "LIVE on St. Patrick's Day" which was filmed at The Port Theatre on Vancouver Island and Lismore, Ireland, was released in 2017.

Their Irish homeland continues to be the primary subject of their music, as in "Erin's Green Isle", "I'll Return", "Dear Little Shamrock Shore", "Dunluce Castle", "Home to Bantry Bay", "The Dublin Pub Crawl", and "Gracehill Fair".

In 2010, The Irish Rovers marked their 45th anniversary with the release of the CD Gracehill Fair, which won a local music award on their home base of Vancouver Island.

With the recent departure of Wilcil McDowell from touring, the present line-up leaves co-founder George Millar as the only remaining current member tied to the 1960s lineup.

During Covid, bandleader George Millar wrote and produced their latest album, "No End In Sight" which features, "The Wellerman" and "Hey Boys Sing Us A Song", which was nominated Canadian Folk Music Awards Single of the Year.

While the band was on tour in Worcester, Massachusetts, Irish Rovers co-founder Jimmy Ferguson died of a heart attack on October 8, 1997, at the age of 57.

Drummer Paul Lawton was killed in a wood chipper in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, on 15 July 2005, at the age of 41.