Kilkelly

	  		



Bm 

Bm                 D             A                   Bm   
Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 60, my dear and loving son John  
                                  D                 A 
Your good friend the schoolmaster Pat McNamara's so good  
                        Bm 
As to write these words down.  
     D                         A 
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England,  
    Bm                    A 
The house is so empty and sad  
    Bm                  D 
The crop of potatoes is sorely infected,  
  A                       Bm 
A third to a half of them bad.  
    D                      A 
And your sister Brigid and Patrick O'Donnell  
    Bm                     A 
Are going to be married in June.  
     Bm                 D 
Your mother says not to work on the railroad  
       A                    Bm 
And be sure to come on home soon.  

Bm                 D          A                   Bm 
Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 70, dear and loving son John  
                      D 
Hello to your Mrs and to your 4 children,  
         A                      Bm 
May they grow to be healthy and strong.  
D                    A 
Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble,  
  Bm                       A 
I guess that he never will learn. 
  Bm                            D 
Because of the dampness there's no turf to speak of  
    A                      Bm 
And now we have nothing to burn.  
    D                    A 
And Brigid is happy, you named a child for her  
    Bm                       A 
And now she's got six of her own.  
    Bm                          D 
You say you found work, but you won't say  
             A                       Bm 
What kind or when you will be coming home.  

Bm                 D          A                         Bm 
Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 80, dear Michael and John, my sons  
                          D 
I'm sorry to give you the very sad news  
          A                   Bm  
That your dear old mother has gone.  
   D                      A 
We buried her down at the church in Kilkelly,  
     Bm                       A 
Your brothers and Brigid were there.  
Bm                               D 
And you don't have to worry, she died very quickly,  
  A                  Bm 
Remember her in your prayers.  
         D                    A 
And it's so good to hear that Michael's returning,  
     Bm                     A 
With money he's sure to buy land  
Bm                                 D 
For the crop has been poor and the people  
    A                              Bm 
Are selling at any price that they can.  

Bm                 D      A                          Bm 
Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 90, my dear and loving son John  
                       D 
I guess that I must be close on to eighty,  
     A                         Bm 
It's thirty years since you're gone.  
  D                   A 
Because of all of the money you send me,  
    Bm                     A 
I'm still living out on my own.  
    Bm                   D 
And Michael has built himself a fine house  
    A                       Bm 
And Brigid's daughters have grown.  
D                          A 
Thank you for sending your family picture,  
        Bm                     A 
They're lovely young women and men.  
    Bm                      D 
You say that you might even come for a visit,  
       A               Bm 
What a joy to see you again.  

Bm                 D      A                   Bm 
Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 92, my dear brother John 
                        D               A                           Bm 
I'm sorry that I didn't write sooner to tell you that father passed on.  
       D                       A 
He was living with Brigid, she says he was cheerful  
    Bm                        A 
And healthy right down to the end.  
  Bm                        D 
Ah, you should have seen him play with  
                     A                  Bm 
The grandchildren of Pat McNamara, your friend.  
       D                       A 
And we buried him alongside of your poor mother,  
Bm                         A 
Down at the Kilkelly churchyard.  
    Bm                    D 
Oh, he was a strong and a feisty old man,  
   A                        Bm 
Considering his life was so hard.  
         D                     A 
And it's funny the way he kept talking about you, 
   Bm                    A 
He called for you in the end.  
    Bm                        D 
Oh, why don't you think about coming to visit,  
     A                    D 
We'd all love to see you again.