It seems like
only yesterday
I sailed from
out of Cork
And on a ship
from old Erin's Isle
I landed in
New York
There wasn't a soul
to greet me there
A stranger
on the shore
But Irish luck
was with me here
and riches
came galore
So now I'm going
back again to
dear old Erin's Isle
My friends will
meet me on
the pier and
greet me with
a smile
There's faces sure
I will have forgot
I've been
so long away
But my mother will
introduce them all
and this to me
she'll say:
Shake hands with
your uncle Mike,
me boy
And here's
your sister Kate
And this is the girl
you used to swing
down on the
garden gate
Shake hands with
all of the neighbours
And kiss the
colleens all
You're as welcome
as the flowers in May
To dear old Donegal
There came Branigan
Flanigan, Milligan,
Gilligan, Duffy, McGuffy
Mullachy, Malone
Rafferty, Lafferty
Donelly, Conelly
Dooley, O'Hooley
Muldonney, Malone
Ryan, O'Brien,
Herlanahan, Flanahan
Faigen, O'Haigen
O'Houlihan, Flynn
Shanahan, Manahan
Fogerty, Hogerty,
Kelly, O'kelly
MacGuiness, MacGuin
Shake hands with
your uncle Mike,
me boy
And here's
your sister Kate
And this is the girl
you used to swing
down on the
garden gate
Shake hands with
all of the neighbours
And kiss the
colleens all
And I'll live content
and pay no rent
in dear old Donegal