Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Thanks to @Locket846 and @sr.clumsy7802 for helping me with the lyrics. Also Sr. Clumsy for translating the song
This song was originally written in English by an Irish individual named David Rovics. The song was translated into Spanish by, CD Mexico resident, Abraham Roman and was uploaded onto the website of Mexico's Ministry of Culture along with 8 other songs he covered.
The song tells the story of John Riley fleeing Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine and is dragged into joining the US army right after leaving the boat, which was a common thing that happened to Irish immigrants that arrived to the country. In the original English song, he mentioned about the US soldiers pillaging settlements and raping nuns, which something that happened way too common in the war, even though O' Riley deserted (in 1846,) before the Mexican-American war happened. But no such mention is present in the Spanish translation. The story of O' Riley's arrival to the US is contradicting . According to Wikipedia, O' Riley at the time was a soldier in the British Army who was later stationed to Canada and then left to the US to join the army there, before defecting to Mexico in 1846
O' Riley and his band of deserters joined the Mexican army and formed the Saint Patrick's Battalion (Batalión de San Patricio), along with some Germans and Italians that were Catholic. They fought in 5 major battles in the war and put up a good fight, but the unfortunate thing is that the Mexican army was filled by conscripts who had no interest in fighting. Because of this massive problem, Mexico lost almost most of the battles, along with an unpopular leader head as general, Antonio Lopéz de Santa Anna. Their last battle was at Churubusco, a neighborhood in Mexico City (1847). Most of the members that deserted during the war were hanged for treason, while some, like O' Riley, were branded as deserters and that was the end of it. O' Riley ended up staying in Mexico and lived there for the rest of his life until his death in 1850.
Mexicans and Irish were never treated equally after the war. Irish people weren't even classified as "white" until the early-20th century, and were forced to live in ghettos. Mexicans were treated depending on the skin color, since there are Mexicans who have lighter skin tones were treated less worse than ones with darker skin tone, and also subjected to lynchings and massacres (an example would be the state sponsored mass murders of innocent Mexican-Americans in Texas, during the 1900s and 1910s)
The Mexican-American War is an extremely one-sided conflict that most Americans forget about, but a conflict that the Mexican nation will never forget about. St. Patrick's Day is considered a military holiday in Mexico, to honor the foreign martyrs who fought against the tyrannical US and it's insatiable lust for "progress". On a personal note: As a Mexican-American, I'll never forget the brave people, such as O' Riley, who fought in service of the Mexican nation. Viva Irlandia y John Riley!
____________________________
Mi nombre es John Riley
Acerca tu oído a mi voz
Dejé mi hogar en Irlanda
En medio de hambre, muerte y dolor
Al llegar a Norteamérica
Fuí reclutado sin contemplación
Cruzar entre balas los valles de Texas
Rumbo a una batalla mayor
Anduve entre villas y pueblos
Testigo de llanto y clamor
Era una guerra sin nombre ni causa
Yo era un soldado invasor
"México vive un infierno en la tierra"
Decía un soldado menor
Junto conmigo doscientos valientes
Formamos aquel batallón
(Chorus)
Desde Dublin, hasta San Diego
Negaron nuestra libertad
Y San Patricio bendice la lucha
Del gran Batallón de verdad
Con nuestra propia bandera
Redobla el tambor militar
Junto con los mexicanos cantamos
Las voces de "¡Unión, Libertad!"
El trébol de la buena suerte
Rodea el nido del águila real
Aunque ande en valle de sombra y de muerte
Juramos jamás desmayar
(Chorus)
Peleamos en Matamoros
Buenavista, Monterrey
Son derrotados norteamericanos
Por un batallón irlandés
En un diario esta escrita la nota
Que asombra a todo quién la lee:
"Luchamos en contra de la tiranía
Y lo volveríamos a hacer"
(Chorus)
Fuimos llamados "Traidores"
"Legiones de extraños sin fé"
En Churubusco enfrentamos la guerra
Caímos por última vez
Fue nuestra muerte en aquellas laderas
La soga impaciente de ser
Fierros candentes, cobardes cadenas
Marcaron con fuego la piel
(Chorus)
____________________________
Thanks to @Locket846 and @sr.clumsy7802 for helping me with the lyrics. Also Sr. Clumsy for translating the song
This song was originally written in English by an Irish individual named David Rovics. The song was translated into Spanish by, CD Mexico resident, Abraham Roman and was uploaded onto the website of Mexico's Ministry of Culture along with 8 other songs he covered.
The song tells the story of John Riley fleeing Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine and is dragged into joining the US army right after leaving the boat, which was a common thing that happened to Irish immigrants that arrived to the country. In the original English song, he mentioned about the US soldiers pillaging settlements and raping nuns, which something that happened way too common in the war, even though O' Riley deserted (in 1846,) before the Mexican-American war happened. But no such mention is present in the Spanish translation. The story of O' Riley's arrival to the US is contradicting . According to Wikipedia, O' Riley at the time was a soldier in the British Army who was later stationed to Canada and then left to the US to join the army there, before defecting to Mexico in 1846
O' Riley and his band of deserters joined the Mexican army and formed the Saint Patrick's Battalion (Batalión de San Patricio), along with some Germans and Italians that were Catholic. They fought in 5 major battles in the war and put up a good fight, but the unfortunate thing is that the Mexican army was filled by conscripts who had no interest in fighting. Because of this massive problem, Mexico lost almost most of the battles, along with an unpopular leader head as general, Antonio Lopéz de Santa Anna. Their last battle was at Churubusco, a neighborhood in Mexico City (1847). Most of the members that deserted during the war were hanged for treason, while some, like O' Riley, were branded as deserters and that was the end of it. O' Riley ended up staying in Mexico and lived there for the rest of his life until his death in 1850.
Mexicans and Irish were never treated equally after the war. Irish people weren't even classified as "white" until the early-20th century, and were forced to live in ghettos. Mexicans were treated depending on the skin color, since there are Mexicans who have lighter skin tones were treated less worse than ones with darker skin tone, and also subjected to lynchings and massacres (an example would be the state sponsored mass murders of innocent Mexican-Americans in Texas, during the 1900s and 1910s)
The Mexican-American War is an extremely one-sided conflict that most Americans forget about, but a conflict that the Mexican nation will never forget about. St. Patrick's Day is considered a military holiday in Mexico, to honor the foreign martyrs who fought against the tyrannical US and it's insatiable lust for "progress". On a personal note: As a Mexican-American, I'll never forget the brave people, such as O' Riley, who fought in service of the Mexican nation. Viva Irlandia y John Riley!
____________________________
Mi nombre es John Riley
Acerca tu oído a mi voz
Dejé mi hogar en Irlanda
En medio de hambre, muerte y dolor
Al llegar a Norteamérica
Fuí reclutado sin contemplación
Cruzar entre balas los valles de Texas
Rumbo a una batalla mayor
Anduve entre villas y pueblos
Testigo de llanto y clamor
Era una guerra sin nombre ni causa
Yo era un soldado invasor
"México vive un infierno en la tierra"
Decía un soldado menor
Junto conmigo doscientos valientes
Formamos aquel batallón
(Chorus)
Desde Dublin, hasta San Diego
Negaron nuestra libertad
Y San Patricio bendice la lucha
Del gran Batallón de verdad
Con nuestra propia bandera
Redobla el tambor militar
Junto con los mexicanos cantamos
Las voces de "¡Unión, Libertad!"
El trébol de la buena suerte
Rodea el nido del águila real
Aunque ande en valle de sombra y de muerte
Juramos jamás desmayar
(Chorus)
Peleamos en Matamoros
Buenavista, Monterrey
Son derrotados norteamericanos
Por un batallón irlandés
En un diario esta escrita la nota
Que asombra a todo quién la lee:
"Luchamos en contra de la tiranía
Y lo volveríamos a hacer"
(Chorus)
Fuimos llamados "Traidores"
"Legiones de extraños sin fé"
En Churubusco enfrentamos la guerra
Caímos por última vez
Fue nuestra muerte en aquellas laderas
La soga impaciente de ser
Fierros candentes, cobardes cadenas
Marcaron con fuego la piel
(Chorus)
____________________________
