I Was Born And Raised In Claraghatlea North Poem by Francis Duggan

I was raised in old Claraghatlea North and there I first saw light of day
North of here even as the crow does fly ten thousand or more miles away
In my flights of fancy I see Clara Mountain that old hill by famed Millstreet Town
The home of Noel C Duggan's Green Glens Arena that can lay claim to Worldwide renown.

In Millstreet now I would be a stranger 'tis been somewhile since I've lived there
I now look much older and grayer and time has left me with less hair
Many of those I've known are now deceased and time for nobody does wait
By Cashman's hill some of them resting death to all comes sooner or late.

In this Southern Land I'll always be a migrant just one of the millions 'twould seem
From Countries in Asia and Europe who came south to follow their dream
Though some with their lives not that happy not all dreams as we know do come true
Not all of us can be successful though success we feel is our due.

A Country boy raised close to Nature some of Nature's ways I got to know
I grew to love the song of the dipper in the stream that by my old home did flow
And the tiny wren of the hedgerow he is one with a big bird song
And the robin redbreast of the backyard once heard him you cannot get wrong.

I was born and raised in Claraghatlea North far north of here as the crow fly
From there I began my life's journey and who knows where I'm going to die
And to the old fields where I once walked the Seasons they come and they go
And the finches in the groves are singing and the dunnock chirps in the hedgerow.