Raise Your Glass: Ispíní Na hÉireann Drop “Johnny Jump Up” As Poxtail Soup Nears

Dublin trad-rock outfit Ispíní na hÉireann has released a new single, a spirited take on the Cork standard “Johnny Jump Up.” The track arrives ahead of the band’s second album, Poxtail Soup, due November 21, 2025.

The song, written by Tadhg Jordan in 1934 and popularized by Jimmy Crowley and Christy Moore, first appeared in the Ispíní na hÉireann’s set at their debut gig. Frontman Tomás Mulligan said the tune’s humor masks a cautionary tale about drink.

The band shared: “Written by Tadhg Jordan in 1934, this Corkonian classic has been a favorite of ours from the very beginning. In fact, it was played at our very first gig – the day Ispíní na hÉireann was christened. Back then we had only a silly name and a handful of songs; thankfully now we’ve a few more songs…and the same silly name.

Made famous by Jimmy Crowley and Christy Moore, the song is comic on the surface but carries a darker edge, warning of the dangers of drink and the chaos that follows a day on the world’s most widely consumed drug. The culprit here is a bad batch of cider – strong enough to poison some, kill others, and send the rest into temporary madness.”

Poxtail Soup follows the 2022 debut The Hard Working Men and leans into the band’s mix of Irish trad, storytelling, and satire. The lineup features Tomás Mulligan (lead vocals, guitar), Paahto Cummins (vocals, banjo), Pádraig Óg Mac Aodhagáin (saxophone, uilleann pipes, flute), Aongus MacAmhlaigh (vocals, cello, fiddle), and Declan Gillen (drums, bodhrán, pad).

Lyrics

One day as I went down to Youghal by the sea

The sun it was bright and the air it was warm

Says I an auld pint it wouldn’t do me no harm

I went in and I called for a bottle of stout

Says the barman I’m sorry, all the beer is sold out

Try whiskey or Paddy ten years in the wood

Says I I’ll try cider I’ve heard that it’s good

Oh never! Oh never! Oh never again!

If I live to a hundred or a hundred and ten

I fell to the ground and I could not get up

After drinking a quart of the Johnny Jump Up

Well bursting for a piss, I went into the yard

Where I bumped into Brophy the big civic guard

Come here to me boy don’t you know I’m the law

So I upped with me fist and I shattered his jaw

He fell to the ground with his knees doubled up

But it was not I hit him, it was the Johnny Jump Up

And next thing as I went to Youghal by the sea

There was a cripple on his crutches and says he to me

I’m afraid of me life I’ll be hit by a car

Won’t you please take me over to the Railwayman’s Bar?

And after taste of that cider so sweet

He threw down his crutches and danced on his feet

I marched up the Lee Road a friend for to see

They called it the mad house in Cork by the Lee

And when I do get there the truth I do tell

They had that poor fucker locked up in a cell

Said the guard testing him, say these words if you can

“Around the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran”

Tell them I’m not crazy tell them I’m not mad

It was only a sup of the bottle I had

Now a man died in the union by the name of McNab

And we washed him and we laid him outside out on a slab

And after O’Connor his measures did take

Well, his wife took him home to a bloody fine wake

Around twelve o’clock and the beer it was high

The corpse, sits he up and says he with a sigh

I can’t get to heaven, they won’t let me up

Till I bring them a quart of the Johnny Jump Up

Oh never! Oh never! Oh never again!

If I live to a hundred or a hundred and ten

For I fell to the floor and I could not get up

After drinking a quart of the Johnny Jump Up

The Poxtail Soup Album Launch Tour opens November 14 in Dundalk and continues across Ireland, with dates at several notable venues.

Studio personnel: Killian Ó Flanagan – engineer, mixer; Steven Rahaman – producer, mastering; Ryan Quinn – mixing engineer; Tomás Mulligan – producer & mixer.

The Poxtail Soup Album Launch Tour

Nov 14 – Mo Chara’s, Dundalk
Nov 15 – Ballintubbert House, Laois
Nov 21 – Bank Lane, Waterford (Official Album Launch Night)
Nov 22 – DeBarra’s, Clonakilty
Nov 26 – 30 min set at Spin Dizzy, Dublin (signing + meet & greet)
Nov 28 – The Commercial, Limerick
Nov 29 – Glen Eagle, Killarney