Jack The Mule Poem by Francis Duggan

'Twas Dathai Dowling found him or so I have been told
Up there in field by Clara hill his body yet not cold
And sad news travels quickly across the Countryside
And it was known for miles around how Jack the Mule had died.

His proper name John Kelleher I once asked an old man why
The reason for the nickname which for years he was known by?
He said the nickname came about Jack's dad had owner a mule
When he himself was just a boy before he had finished school.

A character there's one like him in almost every place
And in and around Millstreet Town his was a well known face,
He did not have an easy life he lived it the hard way
And he was too fond of his pint some have been known to say.

He had to work from an early age and hard times he'd been through
And there was more far more to Jack he was as strong as two
He never earned an easy bob he slaved for every pay
And nothing ever easy ever seemed to come his way.

Once Millstreet's greatest working man and none so great as he
And memories of the mighty Jack keep coming back to me
The strongest man for miles around and of work he wasn't shy
And his services much in demand when I was a schoolgoing boy.

The winds of March blew chilly cold across the morning sky
And up there in field by Clara Hill he chose his place to die
Once Millstreet's greatest working man he surely earned that spot
And he lives on in memory why should he be forgot.