"Mick McGuire" is a traditional Irish

Music of Ireland

Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...

 folk song

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 about courtship. It tells the story of a young man who courts

Courtship

Courtship is the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. In courtship, a couple get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement...

 a woman named Kate or Katie.
He is initially well received by her mother because he owns a farm

Landed gentry

Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....

, and he is given a seat of honor in the house. He loses favor with Kate's mother after their wedding

Wedding

A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...

 due to his drinking and his wasteful spending of her inheritance

Inheritance

Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...

, and therefore he loses his comfortable spot at their fire.

Recordings

• Four to the Bar
  Four to the Bar
  Four to the Bar was an Irish band in New York City during the early to mid 1990s.From its beginnings as one more hard-drinking pub band from the boroughs, it ventured into a neotraditional fusion of pop, rock, and Irish and American folk....
  
   on their live album Craic on the Road
  Craic on the Road (album)
  Craic on the Road: Live at Sam Maguire's was the first full-length album by Four to the Bar, released in 1994.- Track listing :#I'll Tell Me Ma #Waxie's Dargle/The Rare Old Mountain Dew #My Love's in Germany...
  
  .
• The Clancy Brothers
  The Clancy Brothers
  The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
  
   on their album Come Fill Your Glass with Us
  Come Fill Your Glass with Us
  Come Fill Your Glass with Us - Irish Songs of Drinking & Blackguarding is a collection of traditional Irish drinking songs performed by The Clancy Brothers with often time collaborator Tommy Makem...
  
  .
• Orthodox Celts
  Orthodox Celts
  Orthodox Celts is a Serbian band which plays Irish folk music combined with rock elements. Despite their unusual sound the band is one of the top acts of the Serbian rock scene and has influenced several younger bands, most notably Tir na n'Og and Irish Stew of Sindidun.The band started their...
  
   on their album The Celts Strike Again
  The Celts Strike Again
  The Celts Strike Again is the second studio album by the Serbian Irish folk/Celtic rock band Orthodox Celts released in 1997. Besides covers of traditional Irish songs, the album features two songs written by the members of the band, "Drinking Song" and "Blue"....
  
  .
• The Rapparees on their album Wrapped Up.

Arrangements

"Mick McGuire" was arranged for TTBB choir by Eric M. Pazdziora and published by Alliance Music Publications. http://www.alliancemusic.com/product.cfm?iProductID=981

Melody

The melody used is very popular and is also used for The Hot Asphalt as sung by The Dubliners

The Dubliners

The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...

 and a new song by The High Kings

The High Kings

The High Kings are an Irish ballad group. They were formed on Carick on Suir by Fibarr Clancy and Martin Furey.Brian Dunphy , and Broadway/pop/country singer Darren Holden were later recruited having wowed the world with their own solo careers on broadway in musical reviews, such as Riverdance...

 called Irish Pub