Far North Of This Country Poem by Francis Duggan

Far north of this Country my Life's journey began
And by the Boggeragh Hills I grew into a man
Some I went to school with at rest forever lay
Whilst the others are showing the wear of time's decay.

Far north of This Country of the kangaroo
Of wombat, rosella and koala, lory and cockatoo
Of wattles and pittosporums and eucalypt trees
Of this marvellous Land of the Southern seas

In December when Finnow in flood waters of brown
Was flooding the rushy fields west of Millstreet Town
In wet and windy weather that was cold enough for to snow
I drew life's first breath some six decades ago.

In the place of badger, raven and rook and gray crow
Where the Finnow and Cails and the Blackwater flow
I first looked upon the bright lamp of the day
By the Boggeragh Mountains from here far away.