Kilkelly - An Cat Dubh
Written by：Peter Jones
Kilkelly Ireland eighteen and sixty
My dear and loving son John
Your good friend schoolmaster
Pat mcnamara's so good as
To write these words down
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England
The house is so empty and sad
The crop of potatoes is sorely infected
A third to a half of them bad
And your sister Brigid and Patrick o'donnell
Are going to be married in june
Your mother says not to work on the railroad
Be sure to come home soon
Kilkelly Ireland eighteen and seventy
My dear and loving son John
Hello to your missus and to your four children
May they grow healthy and strong
Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble
I suppose that he never will learn
The house of the dampness there's no turf to talk of
And we have nothing to burn
And Brigid is happy he named the child for her
And knows she's got six of her own
She says he found work but you don't say what
Kind
When will you be coming home
Kilkelly Ireland eighteen and eighty
Dear Michael and John my sons
I'm sorry to give you the very sad news
That your dear our mother has gone
We buried her down at the church in kilkelly
Your brothers and brigid were there
You don't have to worry she died very quickly
Remember her in your prayers
And it's so good to hear that Michael's returning
With money he's sure to buy land
For the crop has been poor
And the people are selling
Any price they can
Kilkelly Ireland eighteen and ninety
My dear and loving son John
I suppose that I must be close on eighty
It's thirty years since you've gone
Because of the money that you sent me
I'm still living out on my own
Michael has build himself a fine house
And Brigid's daughters have grown
And thank you for sending your family picture
They're lovely young woman and men
Oh why that you think about
Comin' to visit
And like to see you again
Kilkelly Ireland eighteen and ninety
To my dear brother John
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner to tell you
That father has gone
He was living with brigid she says he was cheerful
And healthy right down to the end
Ah you should have seen him
Playing with her grandchildren
Of Pat my grandmother old friend
We buried him all along side of mother
Down at kilkelly churchyard
He was a just comin' and feisty old man
Considering his life was so hard
And it's funny the way he kept talking about you
He called for you at the end
Oh why don't you think about coming to visit
With all love to see you again
