All Hail to St Patrick / All Praise to Saint Patrick

This is a hymn about St Patrick.

The words were written by English hymn-writer, theologian, Roman Catholic convert and priest, Frederick William Faber (1814-1863).

It is set to a jig / set-dance tune which known in Irish traditional music circles as "St Patrick's Day" - although the hymn tune (used in this way since at least 1885) has a slightly different structure.  More information about the tune is available here.

This tune was the final piece in the soundtrack for the 1954 film "The Quiet Man".  It was set by Ludwig van Beethoven with the text “The Pulse of an Irishman”, as published in Selected Scottish, Irish and Welsh Folk Song Arrangements.


Downloads

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Examples

Congregation and choir, with organ:


Duet with orchestra:


Singer with guitar:


Insrumental - bagpipes with organ - watch it on Youtube:


Instrumental - piano



Lyrics

All praise to St. Patrick, who brought to our mountains
The gift of God’s faith, the sweet light of his love!
All hail to the shepherd who showed us the fountains
That rise in the heart of the Saviour above!
For hundreds of years, in smiles and in tears,
Our saint has been with us, our shield and our stay;
All else may have gone, Saint Patrick alone,
He has been to us light when earth’s lights were all set,
For the glories of faith they can never decay;
And the best of our glories is bright with us yet,
In the faith and the feast of Saint Patrick’s Day!

There is not a saint in the bright courts of heaven
More faithful than he to the land of his choice;
Oh, well may the nation to whom he was given,
In the feast of the sire and apostle rejoice!
In glory above, true to his love,
He keeps the false faith from his children away;
The dark false faith far worse than death,
Oh, he drives it far off from the green sunny shore,
Like the reptiles that fled from his curse in dismay;
And Erin, when error’s proud triumph is o’er,
Will still be found keeping Saint Patrick’s Day.

Then what shall we do for the heaven sent father?
What shall the proof of our loyalty be?
By all that is dear to our hearts we would rather
Be martyred sweet Saint, than bring shame upon thee.
But oh, he will take the promise we make,
So to live that our lives by God's help, may display
The light that he bore to Erin's shore.
Oh Yes Father of Ireland! no child wilt thou own
Whose life is not lighted by grace on its way;
For they are true Irish, ah yes, they alone,
Whose hearts are all true on Saint Patrick's day.

ABC Notation

Ref:  What is ABC

X:1
T:All Praise to Saint Patrick
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:setdance
A:Frederick William Faber (1880)
C:Unknown
O:Ireland
Z:abc-transcription www.GodSongs.net ,
K:Ebmaj
(B,/2B,/2) | "Eb"E>FE EGAyy|B>c B (BG) (E/2E/2) |
w:1~~~All_ praise to St. Pat-rick, who brought to our mount-ains the_
w:2~~~There_ is not a saint in the bright courts of hea-ven more_
w:3~~~Then_ what shall we do for the hea-ven sent fa-ther? What_
yyyyy"Bb"FEFGEB,|"Ab"C>D C C2 (B,/2B,/2)|
w:1~~~gift of God’s faith, the sweet light of his love! All_
w:2~~~faith-ful than he to the land of his choice; Oh_
w:3~~~shall the proof_ of our loy-al-ty be? By_
yyyyy"Eb"E>F E EFG |B>e c BG (E/2E/2) |
w:1~~~hail to the shep-herd who showed us the fount-ains that_
w:2~~~well may be na-tion to whom he was giv-en, in the
w:3~~~all that is dear to our hearts we would ra-ther be_
yyyyy"Bb"FEF "Eb"GEB,|"Ab"CC D"Eb"E2 B |
w:1~~~rise in the heart of the Sav-iour ab-ove! For
w:2~~~feast of the sire and a-pos-tle re-joice! In
w:3~~~martyr-ed sweet Saint, than bring shame up-on thee. But_
yyyyy"Cm"Bcd e2c|"Bb"dd "Ab"(cB) cB |
w:1~~~hund-reds of ye-ars, in smiles and in tears,_
w:2~~~glo-ry a-bove, true to his love,_ he_
w:3~~~oh, he will take_ the prom-ise we make,_
yyyyy"Cm"Bcd efe | "Bb"dcB "Ab"c B B|
w:1~~~our_ saint has been with us, our shield and our stay;
w:2~~~keeps_ the false_ faith from his child-ren a-way; The_
w:3~~~so to live that our lives by God's help, may dis-play, the_
yyyyy"Cm"Bcd e2 c|"Bb"dcB "Eb"c d>e|
w:1~~~All else may have gone, St Pat-rick a-lone.
w:2~~~The dark false faith far wo-rse than de-ath, Oh
w:3~~~The light that he bore to Erin's shore. He_
(B,/2B,/2) | "Eb"E>FE EGA|B3/2cB (BG) (E/2E/2)|
w:1~~~He has been to us light when earth’s lights were all set._ For the
w:2~~~He_ drives it far off from the green sun-ny shore,_ like the
w:3~~~Oh yes, Fa-ther of Ire-land! no child wilt thou own,_ whose_
yyyyy"Bb"FEF"Eb"GEB,|"Ab"C>D C C2 (B,/2B,/2)|
w:1~~~glo-ries of faith they can nev-er de-cay; And the
w:2~~~rep-tiles that fled from his curse in dis-may; And_
w:3~~~life is not ligh-ted by grace on its way; For_
yyyyy"Eb"EFE EFG|B>e c (BG) (E/2E/2) |
w:1~~~best of our glor-ies is bright with us yet,_ in the
w:2~~~Erin,_ when err-or’s proud tri-umph is o’er,_ will_
w:3~~~they are true Ir-ish, ah yes, they a-lone,_ whose_
yyyyy"Bb"FEF "Eb"GEB,| "Ab"CC "Eb"DE2 z|]
w:1~~~faith and the feast of Saint Pat-_rick’s day!
w:2~~~still be found keep-ing Saint Pat-_rick’s day.
w:3~~~hearts are all true on Saint Pat-_rick's day.


ABC notation - tin whistle friendly

This version is based on the structure of the hymn, rather than the arrangement of tune components that is often used in sessions.   However it is not suitable for general singing in this key.

X:1
T:Saint Patrick's Day
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:setdance
K:Gmaj
D/2D/2 | G>A G GBc | d>e d dB G/2G/2 | AGA BGD | E>F E E2 D/2D/2|
         G>A G GAB | d>g e dB G/2G/2 | AGA BGD | EE F G2 d |
         def g2e | ff (ed) ed | def gag | fed e d d|
         def g2e | fe d e f>g | D/2D/2 | G>A G GBc|d3/2ed (dB) (G/2G/2)|
         AGA BGD | E>F E E2 D/2D/2 | GAG GAB | d>g e dB G/2G/2 |
AGA BGD | EE FG2 z |]

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