A Stranger In Ballydaly

Since from there I have been quite a long time away
I would be a stranger to many in Ballydaly today
By the Boggeragh Ranges far inland from Hibernia’s shore
In the Parish of Millstreet on the road to Rathmore

At the end of the Autumn with Winter quite near
It is cool and wet in Ballydaly in November of the year
Clara, Gortavehy and Caherbarnagh half cloaked in the gray fogs of rain
And brown storm water flowing in every roadside and field drain

The people of Ballydaly as I recall have a charm of their own
Where today I would be a stranger to many where I once was well known
But this is going back some three decades ago
And time as we know becomes everyone’s foe

Ballydaly quite a beautiful place in the Spring
When in the leafy groves the nesting songbirds do sing
And in the fields cattle out of farmyard sheds from months of eating silage and hay
On nutritious young grass are gaining weight by the day

From there I have been quite a long time away
And i would be a stranger to many in Ballydaly today
And only the memories with me does remain
Of a place I did love I may not see again.

A Stranger In Ballydaly is by Francis Duggan