Climbing Mushera Today Poem by Francis Duggan

In the sunny blue sky just a few clouds of gray
And in the parkland nearby children laugh at their play
But in wintery Duhallow from here far away
The young and the ageing climbing Mushera today

Christmas Day in Mushera can be windy, damp and cold
In latter December the old year very old
But climbing the steep slopes of Mushera in weather temperatures near zero degrees
Through the damp bracken and wet to their knees

The local Christmas Day climbers the cold and wet to them hold no fear
Climb to Mushera's summit as they do every year
For to climb in depths of Winter on the roughest of terrain
When brown storm water is bank high in every drain

Does take courage that one can only admire
On a day when it is comfortable to sit by a warm fire
And with a wine or a beer wash the rich food down
In the high coutryside above Millstreet Town

In the sunny blue sky just a few clouds of gray
And in the parkland nearby children laugh at their play
Far north of here in farmyard sheds cattle are bellowing for silage or hay
And the climbers are climbing on Mushera today.