Harrigan (song)

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Harrigan is a song written by George M. Cohan for a Broadway musical in 1907. It celebrates, and to some extent mocks, his own Irish heritage. Contemporary Irish-American singer Billy Murray made a popular recording of the song.

[edit] Lyrics excerpt

H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N spells "Harrigan"
Proud of all the Irish blood that's in me
Divil a man can say a word again' me
H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N you see
Is a name
That a shame
Never has been connected with
"Harrigan", that's me

The song was used decades later for a 1960-61 TV series, called Harrigan and Son, about a father-and-son law firm. Its lead players, Pat O'Brien and Roger Perry, would sing the song, silhouetted behind the closing credits of the show.

The term "divil" is an Irish expression that often found its way into Irish songs of that eera. It essentially means "nary" or "hardly".