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Updated 05/08/2013

 


Notre Dame Victory March
Michael Shea

The Notre Dame Victory March is the fight song for the University of Notre Dame. It was written by two brothers who were Notre Dame graduates. Michael J. Shea, a 1905 graduate, wrote the music and his brother, John F. Shea, who earned degrees in 1906 and 1908, wrote the words. The song was copyrighted in 1908 and a piano verson, complete with lyrics, was published that year. 

The song's public debut came in the winter of 1908 when Michael played it on the organ of the Second Congregational Church in Holyoke.  Notre Dame's fight song was first performed at Notre Dame on Easter Sunday, 1909, in the rotunda of the Administration Building.

Michael Shea was the pastor of St. Augustine's Church in Ossining until his death in 1938. John Shea, a baseball monogram winner at Notre Dame, became a Massachusetts state senator and lived in Holyoke until his death in 1965.
 

Lyrics

Typically the two verses are sung together, and then the chorus is sung one or more times.

Rally sons of Notre Dame:
Sing her glory and sound her fame,
Raise her Gold and Blue
And cheer with voices true:
Rah, rah, for Notre Dame
We will fight in ev-ry game,
Strong of heart and true to her name
We will ne'er forget her
And will cheer her ever
Loyal to Notre Dame

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame,
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send a volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to victory.