The lyrics, which Moore set to the tune of an existing song
called The Red Fox, evoke the days of Irish kings
before the coming of the Anglo-Normans:
Let Erin remember the days of old
Ere her faithless sons betrayed her;
When Malachi wore the collar of gold
Which he won from the proud invader;
When her kings, with standard of green unfurled,
Led the Red Branch Knights to danger
Ere the emerald gem of the western world
Was set in the crown of a stranger.
Malachi, or Máel Sechnaill (948-1022), was the High King of
Ireland at the end of the 10th century. For many years he
fought to expel the Norsemen
centered in Dublin, sometimes in concert with his rival Brian Boru (Brian
Boroimhe). In "Irish Folk Songs in Joyce's Ulysses"
(PMLA 71.3, June 1956), Mabel Worthington notes that
Malachi took the collar of the Norwegian prince Tomar from his
neck after killing him (325).