Transcript

Ag éirí domhsa ar maidin, ó, chuala mé an (uaill) dá casadh,
Grian an tsamhraidh ag lasadh agus grágán na n-éan.
(...) leabaidh, (...),
Ó, cuir siúcra ar an uisce bheatha agus do mhuirnín (dá ól).
Thug mé suas mo leanbh suas go toigh an leanna,
Gur shín mise ar an leabaidh is gur labhair mé leis (arís).
Stad de do chúrsaí (farsaidh),[1], a Sheáin Bharr an Ghleanna,
Is iomaí cailín deas a mheall tú in do shaol.

Rachaidh mé go Gaillimh a dh'éisteacht leis na (seanaibh),
An áit a bhfuil mnáibh óga fairsing agus (cáidh gan orthu scéin).
Ó, ní phillfidh mé 'na[2] bhaile go ngoirfidh cuach an earraigh,
Bhí fir uilig (...) (i ngleann ' do dhéin).
Anois atá mé ' fáil uisce bheatha is pínn agam le caitheamh,
Mo chupa den (leann) bhreac agus mo chú le mo thaobh.
Beidh mé féin ar maidin le creabhair na ngob fada,
Go dtigidh (craobh buí ar an choll agus bláth ar an fhéar).

Translation

As I got up in the morning I heard the horn being blown,
The sun of summer glowing and the sounds of birds.
(...),
Add sugar to the whiskey for your darling to drink (?).
I brought my darling up to the ale house,
And I lay on the bed and I spoke to him again(?).
Cease your easy course (?), John of the top of the Glen,
Many the nice girl you charmed in your lifetime.

I will go to Galway to listen to the elders(?),
Where young women are plentiful and (...).
I won't return home until the spring cuckoo calls,
All the men were (...).
Now I get whiskey and have a penny to spend,
My cup of the dappled ale and my hound by my side.
In the morning I will be with the long-beaked woodcocks,
Until a yellow branch comes on the hazel and a flower on the grass (?).

Footnotes

Commentary

These verses are from a Donegal version of the well known historical song, 'Seán Ó Duibhir an Ghleanna' (John O'Dwyer of the Glen). According to Donal O'Sullivan: 'John O'Dwyer of the Glen was the third son of Darby O'Dwyer (died 1629), who was Chief of the O'Dwyers of Kilnamanagh and lived at Cloniharp Castle, now a ruin, near Dundrum, county Tipperary. The glen from which John O'Dwyer took his epithet "an ghleanna" is a matter of uncertainty, and it has been variously supposed to be the Glen of Aherlow at the base of the Galtee Mountains, Glenlough, in the parish of Clonoulty, and Glenefy near Galbally. We know little of his history, but it may be fairly assumed that during the war of 1649-52 he was closely associated with his cousin Colonel Edmund O'Dwyer. It is clear from the second verse that he foresaw that he would be compelled to leave Ireland, and it is probable that he accompanied his cousin into exile. Colonel Edmund O'Dwyer had operated in Tipperary, Waterford and Limerick, commanding a brigade of five regiments against the Cromwellian forces. The city of Limerick having fallen in October, 1651, the Irish cause was rendered hopeless; and so, by the Treaty of Cahir, 23rd March, 1952, O'Dwyer surrendered on terms. He was allowed to proceed with 4500 of his officers and men to join the Spanish army commanded by the Prince of Condé in Flanders, which was then fighting the French under Turenne. The party sailed from Cove, and Colonel Edmund O'Dwyer was killed while leading his troops against Arras in August, 1654' (Donal O'Sullivan, Songs of the Irish (Dublin, 1960), 147-9).

For a discussion of Ulster versions of the song see Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, A hidden Ulster (Dublin, 2003), 295-7, 519. The popular song 'After Aughrim's Great Disaster' is based on a translation of the song. George Sigerson's English translation of the song 'John O'Dwyer of the Glen' maintains its popularity today.