My Ballinabranna Home
Author : Seamus Dunne
Singer: Seamus Dunne

My Ballinabranna Home
Author : Seamus Dunne
Singer: Seamus Dunne

A song in praise of Ballinabranna, place and people
Theme: Pride in Place

You may sing about Killarney and the homes of Donegal
But one place is so dear to me, it’s the very best of all.
The place that I return to no matter where I roam,
It’s that little spot in Carlow, It’s my Ballinabranna Home.

When young I often walked by the Barrow down below
And gazed upon the barges and wondered where they’d go.
We used to swim there by the weir and frolicked in the foam;
‘Twas scarcely half-a-mile away from my Ballinabranna Home.

I remember too the fields around where we hurled and played football.
Jack Dunne, John Brien and Billy Dobbs, those great men I recall.
It’s thanks to them and many more and the foresight they had shown
That we have a pitch and clubhouse in my Ballinabranna Home.

I remember too the little schools by the churchgate, one each side,
For the teaching of John Conwill they were known both far and wide.
John tyndall, a great scientist, and the famous Cardinal moran
Were two of the great scholars from my Ballinabranna Home.

The old girls school became the hall where we danced on Friday night
When the local basnd they took the stage they filled us with delight.
Some of those musicians to their eternal rest have gone
But Ber Landy is still playing around my Ballinabranna Home.

It was in that hall we saw the plays produced by Master Doyle;
The casts they put on a great show after many weeks of toil.
‘Sharon’s Grave’ and ‘Sive’ were some of the plays well known
That we were entertained with in my Ballinabranna Home.

And the people of the village, I’ve left them until last,
They all helped one another in the hard times that are past.
They shared the little that they had, spuds and veg they had grown.
Ah, the neighbours they were great back then in my Ballinabranna Home.

The chapel of St. Fintan’s with its graveyard closely by,
Where my parents and relations in peaceful slumber lie.
It’s where I hope my bones will rest there in that sacred loam
And forever be contented in my Ballinabranna Home.