Oh, father dear I ofttimes hear
You speak of Erin’s isle
Her lofty scenes, her valleys green
And her mountains rude and wild
They say it is a lovely land
Where in a prince might dwell
Then why did you abandon it?
The reason to me tell
Oh son, I loved my native land
With energy and pride
‘Till a blight came over all of my crops
And my sheep and cattle died
The rents and taxes were too high
Sure, I could not them redeem
And with a sigh
Oh, I bid goodbye
To you, old Skibbereen
It’s well that I remember
That bleak November day
When the landlord and {?} came
To drive us all away
They set our roof on fire with
Their demon yellow flame
And that’s another reason why
I left old Skibbereen
Your mother too, oh god reset her soul
Fell on the snowy ground
She fainted in her anguish at all the desolation round
She never woke, but she past away
From life to mortal dreams
Oh she found her quiet grave, my boy
In you, old Skibbereen
And you were only 6 months old
And feeble was your frame
I could not leave you with your friends
For you’d bore your father’s name
So I rapped you in my cóta mór
At the dead of night unseen
And with a sigh
Sure, I bid goodbye
To you, old Skibbereen
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Oh father dear
The day will come
When vengeance, loud will call
And every man in Ireland
He will answer to that call
I’ll be the man who leads the van, beneath our flag of green
Oh, and loud and high we will raise the cry:
“Revenge for Skibbereen!”
Find more lyrics at westlyrics.com
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The Irish Brigade Lyrics – Skibbereen