"The Bard of Armagh" is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

ballad. It is often attributed to Patrick Donnelly. He was made

Bishop of Dromore The Bishop of Dromore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the original monastery of Dromore in County Down, Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church the title still continues as a separate bishopric, but in the Church of Irela ...

in 1697, the same year as the enactment of the Bishops

Banishment Act The Banishment Act or Bishops' Banishment Act (9 Will 3 c.1) was a 1697 Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of Ireland which banished all ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinaries and regular clergy of the Roman Catholic Church from Ireland. B ...

. Donnelly is believed to have taken the name of the travelling harper Phelim Brady. The Irish language version appears to have been lost. The song itself, like many heroic, rebel outlaw ballads, dates from the mid 19th century, when it was printed as a broadside ballad in Dublin.Bodleian Ballads The same melody is used in the songs " Príosún Chluain Meala" - (The Jail of Clonmel), " The Sailor Cut Down in his Prime" and "

The Streets of Laredo "Streets of Laredo" (Laws B01, Roud 23650), also known as "The Dying Cowboy", is a famous American cowboy ballad in which a dying ranger (1911/ Rhymes of the range and trail) tells his story to another cowboy. Members of the Western Writers of Am ...

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

recorded a version of three verses of this song followed by three verses of The Streets of Laredo on the album Long Journey Home, a compilation of songs about Irish emigration and the links between Irish and American folk and country music featuring various Irish and British-Irish artists, in 1998.

Lyrics

Oh list to the lay of a poor Irish harper, And scorn not the strings in his old withered hands, But remember those fingers, they once could move sharper, To raise up the strains of his dear native land. It was long before the
shamrock A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of ...
, the dear isle's loved emblem, Was crushed in its beauty by the
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
lion's paw, I was called by the colleens around me assembling Their bold Phelim Brady, the Bard of Armagh. How I love to muse on the days of my boyhood, Though four score and three years have flitted since then. Still it gives sweet reflection, as every first joy should, For free-hearted boys make the best of old men. At the
fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...
or the wake I could twirl my
shillelagh A shillelagh ( ; ga, sail éille or , "thonged willow") is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty blackthorn stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore. Other ...
, Or trip through a jig with my
brogues The brogue (derived from the Gaeilge (Irish), and the Gaelic ( Scottish) for "shoe") is a style of low-heeled shoe or boot traditionally characterised by multiple-piece, sturdy leather uppers with decorative perforations (or "broguing") and s ...
bound with straw. Faith, all the pretty girls in the village and the valley Loved bold Phelim Brady, the Bard of Armagh. Now tho' I have wander'd this wide world over, Still Ireland's my home and a parent to me. Then O, let the turf that my bosom shall cover Be cut from the ground that is trod by the free. And when in his cold arms Death shall embrace me, Och! lull me asleep with sweet ' Erin-go-Bragh', By the side of my Kathleen, my first love, then place me, Then forget Phelim Brady, the Bard of Armagh.

References

Jonathon Ramsey Music Productions

Notes

{{folk-song-stub Irish songs Year of song unknown