The Irish Rovers is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Irish folk

Folk music of Ireland

The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...

 group created in 1963 and named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover

The Irish Rover

"The Irish Rover" is a traditional Irish song about a magnificent, though improbable, sailing ship that reaches an unfortunate end. It has been recorded by numerous artists, some of whom have made changes to the lyrics....

". The group is best known for their international television series, and renditions of traditional Irish drinking songs, as well as early hits, Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein

Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein , was an American poet, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children's books...

's "The Unicorn

The Unicorn

The Unicorn is the second album by Irish folk music group The Irish Rovers, released in 1967.The title track The Unicorn, a recording of Shel Silverstein's poem, reached #7 in the U.S...

", "Wasn't That A Party", "The Orange and the Green

The Orange And The Green

"The Orange And The Green" is an Irish folk song about a man whose father was a Protestant and his mother was a Catholic . It follows the man's trials as the product of religious intermarriage and how mixed up he turned out to be from such an upbringing.This song was written by Anthony Murphy of...

", "Whiskey on a Sunday

Whiskey on a Sunday

Whiskey on a Sunday is a 2006 DVD/album by the Irish-American punk band Flogging Molly. The album features a mix of live and studio recordings and comes with a DVD featuring a documentary of the band...

", "Lily The Pink", and "The Black Velvet Band

The Black Velvet Band

"The Black Velvet Band" is a traditional English and Irish folk song describing transportation to Australia, a common punishment in 19th century Britain and Ireland. The song tells the story of a tradesman who meets a young woman who has stolen an item and passed it on to him...

" which became a popular pub tune.

The primary voices heard in the group's early songs were Will Millar

Will Millar

Will Millar is an Irish-Canadian singer best known as a co-founding member of The Irish Rovers. Until his departure in 1995, he was the group's front man. He plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and tin whistle....

 (tenor), Jimmy Ferguson

Jimmy Ferguson

James Francis "Jimmy" Ferguson was a founding member of the Irish-Canadian folk group The Irish Rovers. He was the only member who did not play an instrument....

 (baritone), George Millar

George Millar (singer)

George Millar, is a singer/songwriter and guitarist with the Irish-Canadian music group The Irish Rovers.George was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, ca. 1947, the brother of Will Millar and Sandra Beech. As children, they performed as "The Millar Kids" in Ireland, before the family emigrated to...

 and Joe Millar, and in the last twenty years, also John Reynolds and Ian Millar.

All of the band members are from either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland.