SERGEANT MIKE O'LEARY

It was Sergeant Mike O'Leary who broke the barricade,

Who took the chance, and won the Cross that crowns the bayonet trade;

‘ Twas “M'anam do Dhia,” and “How's your heart,” and “How could we forget?”

But Michael from Inchigeela will fill a ballad yet.

Oh! a fair and pleasant land is Cork for wit and courtesy,

Ballyvourney East and Baile Dubh and Kilworth to the sea:

And when they light the turf to-night, spit, stamp, swear as of yore,

It's the Sergeant Mike O'Leary' s ghosts that ward the southern shore.