AMG Review of Upon a Shamrock Shore: Songs of Ireland & the Irish

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

On this compilation, Will Millar's singing is alternated with that of the more sober Jimmy Ferguson, who handles ballads. Even on this Irish-themed material, the Irish Rovers are original and of their late-'60s time. "Pat From Mullingar" celebrates a hero of the I.R.A., while "Pennywhistle Peddler" seems to describe a person and a milieu more reminiscent of the Haight-Ashbury hippie scene in which the group was living than an Irish village. Nevertheless, more traditional fare is heard in the bawdy "Up Among the Heather" and in a quartet of songs about the Irish diaspora to America in the 19th century and the immigrants' subsequent experiences. This is a varied collection by a distinctive group that took its heritage in sometimes surprising directions. ("The Rovers Street Song Medley" is previously unreleased, while "Pigs Can't Fly" has been stripped of overdubs.)