For Joan Cotter Poem by Francis Duggan

She was in her late teens some twenty years ago
Joan the eldest of a family of girls of Mary and Paddy Joe
Now married with young children and time keeps ticking on
On looking back the Seasons where have those years to gone?

Back then she was Joan Cotter the pride of Millstreet Town
The Rose of the Macroom Road with long hair of blondish brown
In the full bloom of her beauty yet untainted by conceit
One of the nicest people in the Parish of Millstreet.

In leafy groves and hedgerows when the nesting birds did sing
She often walked with her mother on the Killarney road to Tubrid in the Spring
On mild and balmy evenings when the wildflowers were in bloom
From their home by the Grotto on the roadway to Macroom.

Can't believe it's been twenty years but time does not stand still
And the changes have been happening in the Town by Clara Hill
The Joan Cotter then now Saunders a mother of today
And father time as ever he ticks and ticks away.

But we have got our memories and good memories we retain
And i fancy i see her with her mother on the Killarney road again
Walking to the Holy Well of Tubrid for to do their rounds and pray
When the hawthorns looked resplendent in their white blossoms of the May.