roll up this ad to continue
G C D G
It was on a dreary new year's eve as the shades of night came down,
C G Em C D
A lorry load of volunteers approched the border town,
G C G Em C D
There was men from Dublin and from Cork,Fermanagh and Tyrone,
G C D G
And their leader was a Limerick man Sean South from Garryowen
G C D G
And as they moved along the streets up to the barrack door,
C G Em C D
They scorned the danger they might face,the fate that lay in store,
G C G Em C D
They were fighting for old Ireland,to claim their very own,
G C D G
And the foremost of that gallant band was South from Garryowen.
G C D G
But the sergent foiled their daring plan,he spied them through the door,
C G Em C D
Then the Sten guns and the rifles a hail of death did pour,
G C G Em C D
And when that auful night was past,two men lay as cold as stone,
G C D G
There was one from near the border,and one from Garryowen.
G C D G
No more he'll hear the seagull cry o're the murmuring Shannon tide,
C G Em C G D
For he fell beneath a Northern sky,brave Hanlon by his side,
G C G Em C D
They have gone to join that gallant band of Plunkett Pearse and Tone,
G C D G
A martyr for old Ireland,Sean South from Garryowen
Written by Traditional