Last night as I lay sleeping,

I dreamed of days of yore,

And strolled along the old Hill Road

In memory once more.

……….

 

Up beyond Jack Fealey’s cottage

I walked the winding road,

And familiar footsteps took me

To Frank Foley’s famed abode.

……….

 

Geraniums on the window sill,

A welcome at the gate.

The kettle boiling merrily

On the Stanley Number Eight.

……….

 

Frank sitting in his favourite chair

With pipe now well aglow,

While Josie primes the Tilly lamp

And pulls the blinds down low.

 

……….

“Bring in a dorn of turf,” she says

“And close the hen house door,”

They kneel and say the Rosary

Upon the flagstone floor

……….

 

She recites the Glorious Mysteries

And trimmings at the end

She prays for all her children

And for family, foe and friend.

……….

 

The door latch slowly rises.

Johnnie King steps into sight.

“Let out the fire” laughs Josie

“Or else he’ll stay all night!”

……….

 

Patty ‘Morart’ removes his cycle clips.

He’ll drink a glass of stout.

And talk about a troubled world

Of famine, flood and drought.

……….

 

A welcome for the brothers too,

Jack Joe and Mikey Jer.

Back from the beet in Alscot

With wild stories to confer.

 

……….

Then Joseph with the creamery cart

For Meenaheela bound

Collects the flowing tank of milk

And goes the Low Road round..

……….

 

While Norrie with her bucket

Draws spring water from the well.

Josie strolls along with her,

And what tall tales they will tell!

……….

 

Davie cycles home from work,

A tradesman of great skill.

Very soon he’ll walk the greyhound

Back the road and down the hill.

……….

 

And Lizzie churning butter,

Keeps an eye upon the hens.

The Kerry cow is grazing

In the haggart by the fence

 

……….

Jamesie standing at the gap

Bold Mocka by his side.

The jack-ass caught and tackled

And to the gatepost tied.

……….

 

Katie Maurice walking back the road.

Jule Ann is going to town.

Sergeant Normoyle on his daily stroll

Greets you with a friendly frown.

……….

 

Jack Lynch, the local postman

Calls in to drink his tea

And letters from America

Are read with eager glee.

……….

 

Kit and May in California

Jim and Maurice in New York

With Bernard in the Channel Isles

And Eily out in Cork.

 

……….

Maggie back in Headley’s Bridge

And Timmy down in Strand.

Katie home from Canada.

Mikey living close at hand.

……….

 

Mollie in Dromtrasna

Likes to visit now and then.

(Son, Jackie, is the poet

And fine verses he will pen.).

……….

 

Jerry, shot in ambush,

Was a rebel to the core.

He sailed for Orange County

And saw The Hill no more.

……….

 

Patty Foley in from Yonkers

To Rineanna did arrive.

We took a car to meet him

Which Mattie Gaire did drive.

 

……….

Jackie Curtin at Dromtrasna School.

Jamsie Simon in his shop.

On the platform at the crossroads

The polka dances never stop.

……….

 

Dan Din went down the country.

Jackeen Foley moved away.

Bainsean Healy has the turf cut.

Dan O‘Donnell drawing hay.

……….

 

Donaleen Pats gets television,

And we all go down to see.

Soon his niece will visit Grogeen.

As a fair Rose of Tralee.

……….

 

Mikey Noble on his tractor.

He will mow the meadows bare.

Donaleen Mike tunes up his fiddle

And plays out a lively air.

……….

 

Foxy Maurice with the stallion

For O’ Rourke’s yard he is bound.

While Tom and Patty Aeneas

Walk the fields and check the ground.

……….

 

Moss Cahill trains a lively colt.

Johnnie Brouder shooting grouse.

Kate Keefe has turf banks nine sods high.

Paddy Barry at the house.

……….

 

Mikey Lenihan drives the hackney car

To the station and to Mass.

(If Canon Lynch says the twelve o’clock,

An hour at least will pass!)

……….

 

To Joy’s then for a pint of stout

And Motty’s for a sweet.

While Gerry Moloney’s butcher’s stall

Sells every kind of meat.

……….

 

Famed Larry Ellen bakes the bread

With Hector and Dickeen.

Liz Doody’s penny ices

Are the finest ever seen!

……….

 

Jackie Maurice trains the greyhounds.

Tomasheen Thady digs the drains.

Thomas Foley in the tug-of-war.

Nicholos Cotter flies the planes.

……….

 

Mikey Reidy is a thatcher.

Dr Seano does the rounds.

Jack Moloney makes the harness.

Cattle graze beyond the bounds.

……….

 

Mount Castle lights are shining bright

High above the county line.

And the wind from Ballybunion

Means tomorrow will be fine.

 

……….

And then my slumber ended

And my eyes were filled with tears.

I remembered all those faces

That had passed me through the years.

……….

 

Though many now are dead and gone

I can recall them still.

Please God one day we’ll meet again

In our Heaven on The Hill.