Hannah O Leary

She had lived by the hills of Caherbarnagh, Gortavehy and Toorbonia for most of her long life
Her name was Hannah Murphy before she became the late Jer O Leary's wife
She has many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren in places far and wide
From the mountains between Millstreet and Rathmore their home countryside

A good mother to her children and to Jer O Leary a good wife
Hannah would have been in her nineties she lived quite a long life
When i was a young boy she was in her physical prime
And this is going back many Seasons in time

Three score and ten years is regarded as the average human lifetime span
On an average a few years more for a woman than it is for a man
Hannah O Leary was seventy quite a long time ago
And eventually time that rusts iron becomes everyone's foe

The years go by quickly and time ticks on fast
And only the memories of what used to be seems to last
And on looking back the years it only seems like yesterday
That she often brought lunch to her husband Jer O Leary in Den Donnelly's bog in May

Life's journey for us all comes to an end one day
Though few do wish for death in truth one can say
The last remains of that good person Hannah O Leary by Cashman's Hill in St Mary's lay
From the mountains by where she used to live not that far away.