He is that sort of likeable character who inspire bards to rhyme
As a young man he went to live in England and in England he spent his prime
But he returned to live in Millstreet where the Finnow waters flow
Nostalgia stronger far than wanderlust as Connie ought to know.
One who is close to Nature he knows of Nature’s way
He knows about fox and badger or where a hare might lay
He knows where the female rabbit has her nest from her own kind hidden away
She fear the male who will kill her young that’s life as some might say.
I last saw Connie Coakley close to two decades ago
On an evening in December quite cold enough to snow
In the warmth of Corkery’s pub in Millstreet Town his drink he did enjoy
As he talked of current affairs and happy days gone by.
A very genial fellow with many stories for to share
He has lived out of Duhallow in the bigger world out there
But he returned to the old fields where the Finnow and Blackwater meet
Off of the road that leads to Cullen in the Parish of Millstreet.
Suppose the years have slowed him and the decades leave us gray
But at heart I bet he is young he has always been that way
The character Connie Coakley in Millstreet he will grow old
And of him it can be truly said that he has a ‘heart of gold’.
Good Man Connie!