Clara By Name Poem by Francis Duggan

Long before the first people to Duhallow came
And called one old mountain there Clara by name
And built a Village they called Millstreet that grew to a Town
A place that has been feted in sporting renown.

Old Clara the mountain now known far and wide
Had for an unknown amount of centuries been overlooking the green countryside
The countryside known as Duhallow today
How old is old Clara can anyone say?

Old Clara that often inspired me to rhyme
I've climbed on it bracken face many a time
The scenery of Duhallow and Sliabh Luachra a breath-taking sight
Such a memory remains as a thing of delight.

The true history of Clara by humans will never be told
In the age of the dinosaurs it was very old
It sibling hills Mushera, Caherbarnagh and the Paps of Shrone
And old Gortavehy with the face of stone.

Though I may never climb on old Clara again
The beautiful memories with me do remain
Of eating the blue whortleberries the fruits of the heather I used to enjoy
On evenings in July when I was a boy.

The little brown lark o'er the mountain did fly
A musical speck in the gray evening sky
Though lost from my view his song I could still hear
In the calm of the evening melodious and clear.

Though from Millstreet in Duhallow I live far away
In fancy I climb on old Clara today
Such beautiful memories are mine to retain
And when I visualize I am back home again.