The Kerry Dance

Oh, the days of the Kerry dancing
Oh, the ring of the piper's tune
Oh, for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas, like our youth, too soon

When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer night
And the Kerry pipers' tuning
Made us long with wild delight
Oh, to think of it
Oh, to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears

Oh, the days of the Kerry dancing
Oh, the ring of the piper's tune
Oh, for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas, like our youth, too soon

Was there ever a sweeter calling
In the dance than "Eileen Mór"?
Or a prouder lad than "Fady"
As he boldly took the floor?
"Lads and lasses, to your places
Up the middle and down again"
Are the merry parted laughter
Ringing through all the happy glen

Oh, to think of it
Oh, to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears

Oh, the days of the Kerry dancing
Oh, the ring of the piper's tune
Oh, for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas, like our youth, too soon

Time goes on, and the happy years are dead
And one by one the merry hearts are fled
Silent now is the wild and lonely glen
Where the bright, glad laugh will echo ne'er again
Only dreaming of days gone by, in my heart I hear

Loving voices of old companions
Stealing out of the past once more
And the sound of the dear old music
Soft and sweet as in days of yore

When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer night
And the Kerry pipers' tuning
Made us long with wild delight
Oh, to think of it
Oh, to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears

Oh, the days of the Kerry dancing
Oh, the ring of the piper's tune
Oh, for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas, like our youth, too soon