Original Songs plus Famine Songs

Beyond the songs of the Great Famine, I have composed a rich collection of original music that celebrates Ireland’s culture, heritage, and everyday stories. These songs capture the beauty, humor, and spirit of Ireland, offering listeners a deeper connection to its traditions and people.

Listen to the full collection of original songs below. Each track includes an option to download for personal enjoyment or study.

Lyrics

All lyrics are provided in PDF format elsewhere under ‘Lyrics Folder’. Read along to understand the stories, emotions, and messages behind each song.

The Cry of the Dreamer

By John Boyle O’Reilly

A Dreamer Lives Forever

By John Boyle O’Reilly

Brisbane Hold On (1974 floods)

The Light Was Gone from the Window

The Lamp of the Western Isle

Coolabah Child

Marianne

Cyclone Tracy

(Darwin1974)

England in Ireland

Brisbane Thirty-Two

Glass Heart

Great Southland

Kilrush Workhouse Gate

Towns That Time Forgot

About Queensland

The Women of Ancient Ireland

The Old Gold Coast

Where the Gold Coast Meets the Sea

Nightstand Home

Piggy and the Constable

Queensland, Keep Me Calm

Borrowed Summer Day

More Sky in You

Rice for Calcutta

Sailing to Jamacia

(Jamaican Style)

Sailing to Jamacia

Girls of Miltown

Tea and Iron Law

O'Connor's Water

O'Connor's greatest legacies are the Fremantle Inner Harbour and the Goldfields Water supply Scheme, which ranks as one of Australia's greatest engineering achievements.

Ten-Pound Tourists

"Ten pound tourists" refers to British and later Irish citizens who moved to Australia after World War II through a government-assisted passage scheme that cost just £10. Over one million Britons relocated under the scheme between 1947 and 1981.

The Mongers of War

I wrote this when I was 16. Nothing has changed

The Penal Days

Nancy Hynes

The Cascades of Ennistymon

Girls of Ennistymon

The Voyage of the Catalpa

Thicker Than Water

As the Train Moves Out

I wrote this about the West Clare Railway that closed when I was 13.

West of the Shannon

I’M FAR AWAY

I Hope my Hope has Hope

Hunger Wasn’t the Weather

No Matter How Bad Things Are

Green Fields, Black Chains

Give Me Three Grains of Corn, Mother

This poem was written by the English teenager Amelia Blanford Edwards (1831-1892)

Girl On The Orphan Wind

Ghosts on the Leaving Tide

They Died in Vain

Galway Bay

Forgotten Fields of Lime

Fields of Empty Green

Fields of Black Potatoes

Catalpa Breaks Free

Famine Profits

Charles Edward Trevelyan shaped by racist stereotypes about the Catholic Irish.

My mother died that winter

Duffey's Cut

Colossal Crime

Cold Pot on the Hearth

Carry Me Over

Black Pot, Empty Field

Bitter Fields

The Islebrack Lake

A little Love

A Few Hours From The Coast

Cleaned to the Bone

As They Sow

Do you Remember Yet (Ethna Carbery)

Could I Hear the Kookaburras

Sixties Songs

I wrote this for a school musical years ago.

Flowers (Irish Children)

Girls of Ennistymon

Tea and Iron Law

Here's to the Men Who Fight the Wildfires

Heroes In Yellow

The Men Who Fight the Bushfires

The Men Who Fight the Wildfires

The Nun's Story

The Song of Wandering Aengus

By W. B. Yeats

Two (dead) Poets

Most of the lines come from the poems of Patrick Pearse and Patrick Kavanagh.

Veronica's Gone Home

I wrote this when I was 17. I still remember the storm.

Veronica's Gone Home

Male voice

We Rise Again

What go ye Seeking

Written by Ethna Carbery

When You Are Old

Written by W. B . Yeats

Who is Ireland's Enemy?

Why Is She Leaving Me

You Were Mine for a Little While

Shanbally Tune

Shanbally

For James O'Connor of Shanbally

I hold your Hand in Mine

Ethna Carbery

I Must go Away

I Wrote This Song For You

I'm Gazing Out My Back Porch

Irish Pub Song

Jimmy Daly

Johnny and Paddy and Me

Liz and Maggie

Losing Ledger

Meagher in Clonmel (Jail Poem)

Meagher of the Sword

My People's Bones

My River City

One Fine Pleasant Evening

Pegeen

Roger Casement

Roll Away​

Shaped by County Clare

Summer and Spring (Ethna Carbery)

The Banks of Willow Creek

The Cold Sleep Of Brighidin (Ethna Carbery)

The Condamine is Dry - Martin

The Condamine Is Dry

The County Song (Dance)

The County Song

The Croppy

The Fenian Ram

Ballad of the Famine Road

I’m Far Away

Ship of Orphan Girls

Pearse at the GPO

To My Little Blanid (John Boyle O’Reilly)

The Dead who Died for Ireland

Irish Girls in Brisbane Boarding Houses

From Clare to the Southern Sky

Across The Water

Stars Over Ballarat

Clare Fishermen Cutting Cane

The Irish in the Goldfields

Paddy Hannan’s Gold

The Ships from Ireland

Audio Playlist

Each track above includes an option to download for personal use or study.

To listen to the full collection of songs click below. 

Lyrics Folder

For those who wish to read along, all lyrics are available in PDF or text format.

Download the lyrics and explore the stories behind the music.

Keep the Music Alive

Honor Ireland’s Stories Through Song

This is only a suggestion. You can navigate from the menu or however you like.
Listen, read, and share the songs that preserve the voices, struggles, and resilience of Ireland during the Great Famine. Every note tells a story worth remembering.