A National Anthem (for Ireland), by T. D. Sullivan

From Penny Readings for Irish People, Volume 2 (1879), by the Editors of The Nation

A National Anthem

By T. D. Sullivan

God save our Native Land!
May His strong sustaining hand
Be for aye her sure protection and her stay;
May He bid her strength increase,
Give her comfort, joy, and peace,
And banish feud and faction far away!
God Save Ireland, pray we loudly,
May Heaven's choicest blessings on her fall!
From every harm and woe
That may lay a nation low,
May God Save Ireland, say we all!

From evil-hearted foes,
And from traitors worse than those,
From schemings of the slavish and the vile,
From the blighting civil strife
That makes dark a nation's life,
Oh, may God protect our own beloved isle!
God Save Ireland, pray we loudly,
May Heaven's choicest blessings on her fall!
From every harm and woe
That may lay a nation low,
May God Save Ireland, say we all!

May a grace from God above
Fill her people's hearts with love,
May foolish hates and fears from thence be hurled,
And her sons for ever stand
Gallant guardians of a land
The brightest and the bravest in the world!
God Save Ireland, pray we loudly,
May Heaven's choicest blessings on her fall!
From every harm and woe
That may lay a nation low,
May God Save Ireland, say we all!

May the years, as on they roll,
Never touch her heart or soul
With a stain to dim her old and honoured name
But may Ireland dear be still
As a light upon a hill,
In the pure and holy splendour of her fame!
God Save Ireland, pray we loudly,
May Heaven's choicest blessings on her fall!
From every harm and woe
That may law a nation low,
May God Save Ireland, say we all!