Ould Kilkinny
I’m sick o’ New York City an’ the roarin’ o’ the thrains
That rowl above the blessèd roofs an’ undernaith the dhrains;
Wid dust an’ smoke an’ divilmint I’m moidhered head an’ brains,
An’ I thinkin’ o’ the skies of ould Kilkinny!
Bad luck to Owen Morahan that sint the passage-note
’Tis he’s the cause, the omadhaun, I ever tuk the boat;
’Tis he’s the cause I’m weepin’ here, a dhrayman on a float,
When I should be savin’ hay in ould Kilkinny!
The sorra bit o’ grassy field from morn till night I see,
Nor e’er a lark or linnet–not to mind a weeshy bee!
Och! an’ honest Irish mountain now would lift the heart o’ me,–
Will I ever see the hills of ould Kilkinny?
The rattle on the pavement-blocks is fit to make you cry,
A hundhert snortin’ carriages like fire an’ brimstone fly;
Tin thousant people tearin’ wild, black sthrangers pass me by,
An’ to think I left me frinds in ould Kilkinny!
’Tis well me lovin’ parents all are in their coffin-shrouds,
‘Twould break their hearts to see their boy half-smothered in these crowds,
Wid buildin’s all around that high they’re berrid in the clouds,
When the little cot would suit him in Kilkinny!
Bad luck to Owen Morahan, if I’d the passage back,
’Tis shortly I’d be home agin across the ocean thrack;
I’d not delay in Queenstown, an’ I’d fly through Ballyhack,
For to greet the neighbours kind in ould Kilkinny!
