The song is an old traditional Irish drinking song. It is such a popular song in
Ireland that
fans there have come to expect it to be played and chant for it
incessantly. When the
band didn't play it in 2003, they were actually booed!
Ever since then the song is played
without fail at every Dublin show, but nowhere else.
The song is about a young bandit who robs an army officer to keep his girlfriend
happy
and was imprisoned after she betrayed him.