Where I Was Born And Raised Of Here Far North Poem by Francis Duggan

Where i was born and raised of here far north and far away
But I feel I might be a stranger in the old Homeplace today
My old friends getting old and their children I would not know
I've not been back there since I left twenty one years ago
Despite that the accent I was raised with to this day remains with me
And a bloke from Claraghatlea North is all I can ever be
Born and raised in that old Townland by the roadway to Rathmore
Though in sea miles I live distant from Hibernia's green old shore
In fancy I hear the Finnow as it babbles it's way down
Under the bridge at Inchaleigh near the hill to Millstreet Town
And I hear the robin singing in the drizzling April rain
The past may be gone forever but the memories with me remain
Of the Millstreet I grew up in north of here and far away
Though I well may feel a stranger in the old Homeplace today.