National Anthem Comparison
United Kingdom vs Ireland
0
Shared themes
✗
Different moods
164
164 years apart
✓
Same continent
United Kingdom
God Save the King
Comparison Analysis
United Kingdom and Ireland, both Europe nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. United Kingdom's "God Save the King" was written in 1745, while Ireland's "The Soldier's Song" dates to 1909.
The two anthems take different thematic approaches. United Kingdom's focuses on monarchy, god / faith, love of homeland and hope, while Ireland's centers on battle / war, freedom, resilience and ancestors / heritage.
The emotional tones differ: United Kingdom's anthem is majestic, while Ireland's is fierce.
United Kingdom's anthem predates Ireland's by 164 years, having been written in 1745 compared to 1909.
Shared themes
United Kingdom
👑 Monarchy ✝ God / Faith ❤ Love of homeland 🌅 Hope
Ireland
⚔ Battle / War 🕊 Freedom 💪 Resilience 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage
Metadata
| United Kingdom | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1745 | 1909 |
| Adopted | 1745 | 1926 |
| Lyricist | Unknown (traditionally attributed to Henry Carey) | Peadar Kearney (English original); Irish translation by Liam Ó Rinn |
| Composer | Unknown | Peadar Kearney and Patrick Heeney |
| Language | en | ga |
| Region | Northern Europe | Northern Europe |
Lyrics Side by Side
United Kingdom
God Save the King
Original
God save our gracious King,
Long live our noble King,
God save the King:
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the King.
O Lord our God arise,
Scatter his enemies,
And make them fall:
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix:
God save us all.
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On him be pleased to pour;
Long may he reign:
May he defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
With heart and voice to sing,
God save the King!
Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known
From shore to shore:
Lord make the nations see
That men should brothers be,
And form one family
The wide world o'er
Ireland
Amhrán na bhFiann
Original
[Curfá]
Sinne Fianna Fáil,
atá faoi gheall ag Éirinn,
Buíon dár slua
thar toinn do ráinig chugainn,
Faoi mhóid bheith saor
Seantír ár sinsear feasta,
Ní fhágfar faoin tíorán ná faoin tráill.
Anocht a théam sa bhearna bhaoil,
Le gean ar Ghaeil, chun báis nó saoil,
Le gunna-scréach faoi lámhach na bpiléar,
Seo libh canaig' amhrán na bhFiann.
Translation
[Chorus]
Soldiers are we, whose lives are pledged to Ireland;
Some have come from a land beyond the wave.
Sworn to be free, no more our ancient sireland
Shall shelter the despot or the slave.
Tonight we man the gap of danger
In Erin's cause, come woe or weal;
'Mid cannons' roar and rifles' peal,
We'll chant a soldier's song.
Interesting facts
United Kingdom
- 1. The tune is still used for Liechtenstein's national anthem and Norway's royal anthem; it once served Prussia and the German Emperor ('Heil dir im Siegerkranz'), the Russian Empire (1816-1833) and Switzerland (until 1961), and in the United States it carries the patriotic song 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee'
- 2. Around 1745 an extra verse praying that Field Marshal Wade would 'Rebellious Scots to crush' was briefly in use; it was soon abandoned and was not part of the song when it became accepted as the national anthem in the 1780s and 1790s
- 3. As is customary when a king succeeds a queen, the words changed from 'Queen' to 'King' after Elizabeth II's death in 2022, for the first time in over 70 years
Ireland
- 1. Only the chorus is the national anthem. The 1926 decision named the whole song; in 1929 the government authorised Colonel Fritz Brase's arrangement of the chorus alone, after the Minister for Defence had argued that the full song was too long for people to learn and sing. The three verses are rarely heard.
- 2. The anthem lives in two languages: Peadar Kearney's English original and Liam Ó Rinn's Irish translation of 1923. The Irish version is the one normally sung, and in 2018 a Seanad committee recommended producing a phonetic version for people not familiar with the Irish language.
- 3. Kearney wrote the music with Patrick Heeney, who died in 1911 before the song became famous, and Kearney himself was the uncle of the playwright Brendan Behan.
Listen
United Kingdom
Ireland
