I could have sworn Dominic sang that verse. He might have missed it out sometimes, there's a lot of verses in there.

I doubt if Colm O Lochlann would have claimed his version as "the original song" - in his notes he credits it to Joyce's Ancient Irish Music, and says "often heard around Dublin" to a different tune, implying it was in the oral tradition, which implies variants to be expected.

My father used to say the Master was the runt of the litter, and would have been drowned, but a kennel-boy stuck up for him, and the dog was called after him. The kennel-boy being my great-grandfather. Mind, my father believed that it was more important to tell a good story than to worry too much whether it was true or not.

And the ended he favoured, and that I prefer is:

He jumped on her back and he held up his paw.
"Up the Republic" cried bold Master McGrath.

Which fits, since it's said to have been a much-favoured marching song with the Irish Volunteers. Anyway there's at least one statue of the Master down in Co Waterford, and I think there might be a second. And there aren't many dogs for whom you can say that.