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Roughty Valley

(A Song about Kenmare)

I see that lovely valley,
its fields so green and rare,
High mountains border over it,
That valley near Kenmare.

Chorus
I hear it ever calling.
Calling loud and clear.
“Come back, ” it calls “To Roughty,
Your home beside the sea.

A peaceful river lovely,
With salmon, trout and eel,
Rippling waters gliding
by Cleady’s grassy green.
Sweet memories remind me
Romantic were those days,
Those days we courted and we played
in that valley near Kenmare.

Chorus

I’ve heard the banshee wailing
Whene’er they pass away
The noble sons of Roughty
Rest there beside the bay.
The grave of bold MacCartha
In Callan’s lonely field,
Looks down on Roughty Valley,
Where his clansmen live in peace.

Chorus

With a gentle glide near Incheese
Not far from sweet Coolea,
It wanders down by Morley’s Bridge
O’er rock and creek and clay.
It passes by Kilgarvan
And the sound of ash is clear.
The hurling sticks which have proved
their worth
In this village of great feats.

Chorus

The peace and quiet of heaven
From Crossroads to the bay,
Killowen and Cahir Stately
Kilgarvan to Kenmare.
The beauty of Killarney
is renowned across the sea.
But my own sweet Roughty Valley
Is the place I long to be.

Chorus