Robbie O'Connell - Kilkelly, Ireland

Kilkelly, Ireland written by American songwriter Peter Jones and sung by Robbie O'Connell.

It tells the story of an Irish emigrant to America through a series of letters from his father back in Kilkelly. It has five verses covering the period between 1860 and 1892.

Jones based the song on letters from their great-great-grandfather, Bryan Hunt, to his son John, their great-grandfather. As Bryan was illiterate, the letters were actually written by the local schoolmaster, Patrick McNamara, who had been a friend of John's.

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Kilkelly, Ireland, eighteen-and-sixty
My dear and loving son John
Our good friend the schoolmaster Pat McNamara
Is so good as to write these words down
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England
The house is empty and sad
The crop of potatoes is sorely infected
A third to a half of them bad
Your sister Bridget and Patrick O'Donnell
Are going to be married in June
Your mother says not to work on the railroad
And be sure to come on 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 think he never will learn
Because of the dampness there's no turf to speak of
And now we have nothing to burn
Bridget is happy you named the child for her
Although she has six of her own
You say you found work but you don't say what kind
Or when you'll be coming home

Kilkelly, Ireland, eighteen-and-eighty
Dear John and Michael, my sons
I'm sorry to give you this very bad news
Your dear old mother has gone
We buried her down at the church in Kilkelly
Your brothers and Bridget were there
You don't have to worry, she died very quickly
Remember her in your prayers
But it's good to hear that Michael's returning
With money he's sure to buy land
The crop is still poor and the people are selling
Any price that they can

Kilkelly, Ireland, eighteen-and-ninety
My dear and loving son John
I suppose I must be close on to eighty
It's thirty years since you've gone
But because of all of the money you send me
I'm still living out on my own
Michael has built himself a fine house
And Bridget's daughters are grown
Thank you for sending your family picture
They are lovely young women and men
And you say you might even get home for a visit
What joy to see you again

Kilkelly, Ireland, eighteen-and-ninety-two
Dear brother John
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner to tell you
The Father passed on
He was living with Bridget, she says he was happy
And cheerful down to the end
You should have seen him play with the grandchildren
Of Pat McNamara our friend
We buried him alongside of Mother
Down at the Kilkelly churchyard
He was a strong and a feisty old man
Considering his life was so hard
And it's funny, but he kept on talking about you
He called for you at the end
Oh John, why don't you come home for a visit
We would all love to see you again

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Robbie
• Connell
• Clancy
• Brothers
• Kilkelly
• Ireland
• Mayo
• Emigration

[AyeYirMa]

i love how inspired this song is but, it's really annoying when non-irish people try to put on an irish accent when they sing.

he shouldve sang naturally, the accent makes the song feel less authentic for me :(

[TheVillageRake]

The song was written by an Irish American. Robbie O'Connell was born in Waterford and grew up in Tipperary.

[FromDuskTillDawn1992]

@TheVillageRake robbie O'Connel sounds irish, what du you think ?

[TheVillageRake]

@FromDuskTillDawn1992 He is Irish. :)

[FromDuskTillDawn1992]

@TheVillageRake ah i was wondering because he said that he hates the way he trys to speak in irish accent, but his name is an irish one

[TheVillageRake]

@FromDuskTillDawn1992 @FromDuskTillDawn1992 I think AyeYirMa's problem is with non-Irish singers, for eg. an American singing with a forced 'Oirish' accent. He mistakenly thought Robbie O'Connell was American. He is not. Danke :)

[DarkClownWCL]

This song is beautiful and makes me teary eyed...like all good music does to me. This version is the best...ty for posting it.

[RedKatieAnne]

@AyeYirMa I was just slagging you. If you listen to "You're Not Irish" you will know Robbie gets it from both sides. Actually Robbie's accent is much milder than when I first met him in 1985 and he does get call "the Yank" when he is back in Ireland. No offense meant. All The Best, Katie-Anne

[AyeYirMa]

@protolust I've already had the whole thing explained to me, several times, since i made that comment, if you'd bother checking.

[AyeYirMa]

@RedKatieAnne Can you not see how I've already had this explained to me several times since I made that comment?

[AyeYirMa]

@TheVillageRake He? I'm female.

[RedKatieAnne]

@AyeYirMa Well Robbie is a naturalised American citizen. However, he was born in Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland. His uncles, the late, lamented Clancy Brothers were the first wave of singers from the town to come to America. For years Robbie toured with his uncles and there are dozens of their videos on You Tube, including another version of "Kilkelly". I am just having bit of "craic" here. Check Robbie's song "You're Not Irish" to get the joke. It is also posted here. .

[mullanaphy]

Well, now I'm crying at work. This song always makes me tear up. So moving... Doesn't help that my name is also John.

[koleckosalamu]

nice but sad..i can´t find words to describe my feelings

[olliesaw1]

makes me cry all of the time

[skatechic82594]

my american history teacher sings this song...i love it when this guy does but i love it even more when my teacher does it sounds so amazing because its just guitar and omfg i cried so hard at the end