"The Luck of the Irish" is one of two songs on "Some Time in New York City" dealing with the troubled situation in Northern Ireland at the time. While the other Irish-themed song, "Sunday Bloody Sunday," was written specifically in response to the Bloody Sunday on 30 January 1972, "The Luck of the Irish" had been written in November 1971, inspired by a protest march that Lennon had participated in the previous August. Lennon had intended that the royalties from the song would be donated to NORAID. Bootleg tapes exist of Lennon playing an early version of the song in the fall of 1971. On this early version the melody is not yet fully developed and Lennon sings the refrains that are sung by Yoko Ono on later versions. On 12 November 1971 John Reilly filmed the couple rehearsing and performing the song at their home on 105 Bank Street in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Soundtracks from the released short film as well as from unused rehearsal footage have also been bootlegged.