Derry So Fair
It is my understanding that this was written by Packie Manus Byrne, and Cathal McConnell attributes learning it from him in his book and DVD “I Have Travelled This Country”
Photo Credit: © Colm Keating Photography 2023
Recorded by Terry McGinty, Valley Music Studio 2023

She left the fair shores of her own native Ireland
She left them at noon on a grand summer’s day
She bid goodbye to her friends and companions
And she sailed for Amerikay so far, far away

Twas little she thought as she stepped on board that liner
That bore her away from the Foyle’s sunny shore
Twas little she thought as she stepped on that liner
That her own beloved Derry she would never see more

She landed on Sunday in New York’s big city
Mid every hurry bustle and care
She gazed in surprise at the New York skyscrapers
And she wished she was back in her Derry so fair

For four years she worked in a big mill in Boston
The hours were long and no sun did shine there
The roses soon left the fair cheeks of young Ethna
And she pined like a caged bird for her Derry so fair

One night as she slept in her cold attic chamber
She dreamt that her own darling mother was there
But it was the angel of death that had softly come o’er her
And took away Ethna from this sad world of care

They dug her a grave out at Holy Cross Abbey
Where many an exile a grave has found there
A wee sprig of shamrock they planted above her
Now she sleeps her last sleep far from Derry so fair

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