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lyrics

Skibbereen

it was in West Cork I breathed my first
it was there that I grew tall
my father a strong cottier
my mother quaint and small,
we worked the land, it paid the rent
put food upon our plate
we never starved till ‘46
t’was when we felt it’s weight.

for she used to be delightful,
the finest place you’d seen
she used to be magnificent
in her forty shades of green
you’d never want to leave her
not if ever you’d ever been
to our town before the hunger came
and it starved poor Skibbereen.

it started with a rumour
that the praties had turned bad
the land was giving nothing back
the worst crops that we’d had.
but we’d been thru hard times before
community was strong
but we’d never seen the likes before
we couldn’t be more wrong


we heard the Murphys’ son had died
their daughter close behind
the sadness, oh the sadness
tlmost made us lose our minds.
they told us we were lucky
how thankful we should be
as they sealed us in a coffin boat
and pushed us out to sea


Sharon Clancy vocals
Sammy Horner guitar, mandolin, bass, bodhran
Timmy Cotterell fiddle
Howard Rogers/Kylie Horner whistles
Kylie Horner accordion
Mick Egan overdubs

[The town of Skibbereen in west Cork was one of the worst affected areas during the Great Hunger. The town has become synonymous with the great famine that killed more that one million people and sent another 1million to other shores.]

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from Far Away Places., released April 2, 2021

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