Hyde, who was born in 1860 in Roscommon, was a Protestant who founded the non-sectarian Gaelic League in 1893 to promote the Irish language. He taught first at the University of New Brunswick and, later, was the first professor of modern Irish at University College in Dublin. In 1937, when the office of President was created in the new constitution of the Republic of Ireland, Hyde became the first to occupy that office. He died in 1949. The spelling and grammar in the song have been modernized to accord with standard Irish.
Unfamiliar vocabulary is given to the right.
An English translation follows. Triall go Meirice . My grief that I am not and my fair darling in the province Leinster or County of Clare. My grief that I am not and my thousand loves on board of a ship bound for America.