Tag: Bornacoola

Farewell Bornacoola is an emigration ballad written by Molly (Reynolds) Connor. In the tradition of many Irish emigration songs, it recalls scenes from the writer’s childhood around Bornacoola in south County Leitrim and laments the fact that so many local people had to leave home to make a living elsewhere. The song captures both the pain of departure and the lasting attachment emigrants retained to the people and places they had left behind.

Song Details

• Songwriter: Molly (Reynolds) Connor
• Place: Bornacoola, County Leitrim
• Theme: Emigration, childhood and remembrance
• Song type: Ballad
• Singer on this recording: Fionnuala Maxwell
• Recorded by: Fionnuala Maxwell
• Earlier singer associated with the song: John/Seán Roche

The song was also known to have been sung by John (Seán) Roche, although no recording of his version has yet been located.

Lyrics

FAREWELL BORNACOOLA 

Farewell Bornacoola, I’m lonely to leave you, 

My thoughts will be with you wherever I go 

For ‘twas there I was born and it’s there I would tarry, 

In the fields where so sweetly the Rynn waters flow. 

‘Twas there in the summer we strolled through the meadows 

To Rynn where in plenty the blueberries grow. 

On the heathery banks between Bor and Gortletteragh 

We sat where so sweetly the Rynn waters flow. 

‘Twas there we went fishing for perch, pike or cardy 

Or swam in the river near the bridge down below. 

We played on the alley or kicked the brown leather, 

In the fields where so sweetly the Rynn waters flow. 

From Dromod to Clooneen, through Rooskey’s wide arches, 

There flows the broad Shannon to guard on the West, 

Here Leitrim and Longford united forever, 

Make proud Bornacoola as good as the best. 

But thousands are leaving the homes of their fathers, 

To seek fame or fortune wherever they go 

They’ll never find any more kind or more friendly, 

Than in old Bornacoola where the Rynn waters flow. 

Sources & Credits

• Words: Molly (Reynolds) Connor
• Performance and recording: Fionnuala Maxwell
• Research and contextual notes: Fionnuala Maxwell
• Source: Meandering Through Bornacoola by Scully John and MacAodha, Donnchadh.