Secret Ireland Travel & Vacations

There is nothing to pound the heart like a good auld Irish Folk songsession.

From my favourite songs like Wild Collonial Boy to the romantic and sometimes

tragic contemporary tunes from Ireland's finest. Enjoy, these are my top 5.

IRISH FOLK LYRICS - WILD COLONIAL BOY

There was a wild colonial youth, Jack Doolan was his name
Of poor but honest parents, he was born in Castlemaine
He was his father's only hope, his mother's only joy
The pride of both his parents was the wild colonial boy

  Come all my hearties, we'll range the mountainside
  Together we will plunder, together we will ride
  We'll scour along the valleys and gallop o'er the plains
  We'll scorn to live in slavery, bowed down in iron chains

In sixty-one this daring youth commenced his wild career
With a heart that knew no danger, no foeman did he fear
He held up the Beechworth mailcoach and he robbed Judge MacEvoy
Who trembled and gave up his gold to the wild colonial boy

One day as he was riding the mountainside along
Alistening to the little birds their pleasant laughing song
Three mounted troopers came in view - Kelly, Davis, and Fitzroy
And thought that they would capture him, the wild colonial boy

"Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you see there's three to one
Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you daring highwayman"
He drew a pistol from his belt and spun it like a toy
"I'll fight, but I won't surrender," said the wild colonial boy

He fired at trooper Kelly and brought him to the ground
And in return from Davis received a mortal wound
All shattered through the jaws, he lay still firing at Fitzroy
And that's the way they captured him, the wild colonial boy

IRISH FOLK LYRICS - FORTY SHADES OF GREEN

I close my eyes and picture the emerald of the sea
From the fishing boats at Dingle to the shores of Donaghadea
I miss the River Shannon, the folks at Skibbereen.
The moorlands and the meadows and the forty shades of green.
But most of all I miss a girl in Tipperary town.
And most of all I miss her lips as soft as eiderdown.
Again I want to see and do the things we've done and seen
Where the breeze is sweet as Shalamar
And there's forty shades of green.

I wish I could spend an hour at Dublin churning stuff
I'd love to watch the farmer drain the bog and spade the turf
To see again the thatching of straw the women clean
I'd walk from Cork to Laren to see the forty shades of green
But most of all I miss a girl in Tipperary town
and most of all I miss her lips as soR as eiderdown
Again I want to see and do the things we've done and seen
Where the breeze is sweet as Shalamar
And there's forty shades of green
Irish Folk Lyrics - Where the River Shannon Flows

            C
There's a pretty spot in Ireland
  F                 C
I always claim for my land
           a                e           D            G
Where the fairies and the blarney will never, never die
          C                   C7
It's the land of the shillalah
    F                     C
My heart goes back there daily
        F             C               G7                  C
To the girl I left behind me when we kissed and said goodbye
                 F                   C
CHORUS:   Where dear old Shannon's flowing
                       F                      C
          Where the three-leaved shamrock's grows
                    a            e            D            G
          Where my heart is I am going to my little Irish rose
                   C                    C7
          And the moment that I meet her
                  F                  C
          With a hug and kiss I'll greet her
                       F              C                G7             C
          For there's not a colleen sweeter where the River Shannon flows.

Sure no letter I'll be mailing
For soon will I be sailing
And I'll bless the ship that takes me to my dear old Erin's shore
There I'll settle down forever
I'll leave the old sod never
And I'll whisper to my sweetheart "Come and take my name Asthore."
Irish Folk Lyrics - The Croppy Boy

It was early, early in the spring
The birds did whistle and sweetly sing,
Changing their notes from tree to tree
And the song they sang was Old Ireland free.

It was early early in the night,
The yeoman cavalry gave me a fright;
The yeoman cavalry was my downfall
And I was taken by Lord Cornwall.

'Twas in the guard-house where I was laid,
And in a parlour where I was tried;
My sentence passed and my courage low
When to Dungannon I was forced to go.

As I was passing my father's door
My brother William stood at the door;
My aged father stood at the door
And my tender mother her hair she tore.

As I was going up Wexford Street
My own first cousin I chanced to meet;
My own first cousin did me betray
And for one bare guinea swore my life away.

As I was walking up Wexford Hill
Who could blame me to cry my fill?
I looked behind, and I looked before
But my aged mother I shall see no more.

And as I mounted the platform high
My aged father was standing by;
My aged father did me deny
And the name he gave me was the Croppy Boy.

It was in Dungannon this young man died
And in Dungannon his body lies.
And you good people that do pass by
Oh shed a tear for the Croppy Boy.

Irish Folk Lyrics - THE GALWAY SHAWL

At Orenmore in the County Galway,
One pleasant evening in the month of May,
I spied a damsel, she was young and handsome
Her beauty fairly took my breath away.

Cho: She wore no jewels, nor costly diamonds,
     No paint or powder, no, none at all.
     But she wore a bonnet with a ribbon on it
     And round her shoulder was a Galway Shawl.

We kept on walking, she kept on talking,
'Till her father's cottage came into view.
Says she: 'Come in, sir, and meet my father,
And play to please him " The Foggy Dew."

She sat me down beside the fire
I could see her father, he was six feet tall.
And soon her mother had the kettle singing
All I could think of was the Galway shawl.

I played "The Blackbird" and "The Stack of Barley",
" Rodney's Glory" and "The Foggy Dew",
She sang each note like an Irish linnet.
Whilst the tears stood in her eyes of blue.

'Twas early, early, all in the morning,
When I hit the road for old Donegal.
She said 'Goodby, sir,'she cried and kissed me,
And my heart remained with that Galway shawl.