The Former Rose Of Cullen Poem by Francis Duggan

The former Rose of Cullen where might she be today
She left the Village years ago when flowers bloomed in the May
She left as many others did for places far away
For the Land of opportunity the great U S of A.

A woman of rare beauty her equals only few
Her hair was brown and wavy and her eyes were bright and blue
By conceit unaffected and she was free of guile
She was a lovely person with warmth in her smile.

Of marriage she had proposals but 'twas not in her plan
To settle in Duhallow and wed a local man
The wanderlust was in her and her future was elsewhere
And she left behind the memories of her beauty rich and rare.

And she was almost twenty when I was just a boy
She must be in her sixties now how quick the years did fly
And years bring with them wrinkles and years bring with them gray
But the former Rose of Cullen young in my memory stay.

Through Cullen Village in Duhallow she cycled up and down
The wind was in her fair young face and tossed her hair of brown
The former Rose of Cullen was almost in her prime
And the memory of her beauty remains undimmed by time.

The wanderlust was in her and she went to live elsewhere
And I recall her beauty for she had beauty rare
The former Rose of Cullen where might she be today
Is she still in America so many miles away?