To listen to the song visit this site - ballyhackmusic.com

Saint Patrick has been celebrated in hymns, pop songs, rock tunes - but folk music?

To date that last musical style has been a bridge too far for Ireland's patron saint. Until now, that is.

This week the first ever folk song about Saint Patrick will be released on the unsuspecting world - in time for the global celebration.

"Raise a Glass to Saint Patrick" will be played on the Uilleann pipes (Ireland's more soulful answer to Scottish bagpipes) and bodhran drum by Belfast songwriters Colin Magee and Charlie Pettigrew.

Magee told the press: "We wanted to reflect the man he was and the mythical figure he has become, both his restless, tenacious free spirit and the later icon of unity and togetherness."

The song will be released simultaneously in Ireland, the UK and the US on St Patrick's Day.

To listen to the song visit this site - ballyhackmusic.com