“God Save Ireland” takes it’s melody from a song written by George Root in 1864 about the Union prisoners in the American Civil War. “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!” was written to give hope to the prisoners of war, which lends a transnational component to “God Save Ireland.” The melody has been borrowed for several other songs as well, and continues to be referenced in modern pop culture contexts.
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!
In the prison cell I sit, thinking mother, dear, of you
and our bright and happy home so far away.
And the tears they fill my eyes, in spite of all that I can do,
though I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.
Tramp, tramp, tramp. The boys are marching.
Cheer up, comrades, they will come.
And beneath the starry flag, we shall breathe the air again,
of the free land in our own beloved homes.
In the battle front we stood, when their fiercest charge they made,
and they swept us off, a hundred men or more.
But before they reached our lines, they were beaten back, dismayed.
And we heard the cry of victory o’er and o’er.
Tramp, tramp, tramp. The boys are marching.
Cheer up, comrades, they will come.
And beneath the starry flag, we shall breathe the air again,
of the free land in our own beloved homes.
So within the prison cell, we are waiting for the day,
that you’ll come to open wide the iron door.
And the hollow eye grow bright and the poor heart almost gay,
when we think of seeing home and friends once more.
Tramp, tramp, tramp. The boys are marching.
Cheer up, comrades, they will come.
And beneath the starry flag, we shall breathe the air again,
of the free land in our own beloved homes.
The original song, written only three years before “God Save Ireland,” struck a chord with Union POWs. The fact that it made it to Ireland in just three years may seem surprising, but a closer look into the relationship between the United States and Ireland at this time helps to explain this rapid diffusion.
The Great Famine had caused massive migrations of the Irish to the US between 1845 and 1852. By the time the American Civil War began in 1861, there were large numbers of Irish Americans fighting for both the Union and the Confederacy. Armed with this knowledge, it is easy to see how “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!” became an inspiration for Sullivan when he wrote “God Save Ireland.”