Cloonsellan Song
Long life to you Cloonsellan men,
your equal can’t be found.
Your hands on hazels did not fail
to clear the curry ground.
In a haze they were sleeping
and never dreamt or alarmed.
But the hardy sons of Erin’s Isle
always woke revived.
And sheep and bullocks they did drive
up to the landlords door.
And told his son that the day had come
when good land was for the poor.
Boating on Lough Ree (John Keegan Casey’s original poem)
I am sad and lonely
In this far out west
The happy scenes of bygone days
Each night distrub my rest
For in this faithful heart of mine
Forgotten never shall be
The days I spent with Mary Bawn
A boating on Lough Ree
She was young and handsome
And gentle as a fawn
Her eyes they shone like diamonds bright
Or stars at early dawn.
Her smiles she had for everyone
Her kisses all for me
In my dreams i gaze on Mary’s face
A boating on Lough Ree
When she pledged herself to be my bride
How happy then was I
How fleeting then the joys of life
How swiftly they go by.
But the heaven’s light shone in her eyes
She was too good for me
An angel marked her for his bride
And took her from Lough Ree.
I’ve crossed o’er many a thorny path
My hair is silvery hue
A thrilling voice rings in my mind
In tones I can’t subdue
A lonely farmstead haunts my sight
A pleasant face I see
It’s features of my Mary Bawn
A boating on Lough Ree
Down Derry Down, Two Ducks And A Drake
(Recited by J. Tiernan in Old McDermotts or Nixons Pub many years ago)
Mrs Mc Gorrick to Michael did say
Last Night three of my fine ducks were taken away
Michael said nothing but polished his shoes
Went up to the Parson and told him the news
The Parson said nothing til McGorrick had done
Be God said the Parson ’twas Siggins’s son
Old Siggins and George two Anns and a Mae are plundering and robbing by night and by day
George Siggins has a basket made sure wouldn’t break
It was in it he carried two ducks and a drake.
In the days before electricity people used to make rhymes and stories about every incident, and in the era of learning through memorizing these can still be recited by the older members of the community
