On Bold Thady Quill

Johnny Tom Gleeson immortalized him in a song
And thanks to this to the legends of sports in Ireland he does belong
Though Thady Quill never played hurling or Gaelic football
And in fact at these games he was of no use at all

And Bold Thady he never was a ladies man
Not even in the bloom of his life's elan
And he never drunk black porter as fast as you fill
The hero of the song of the bold Thady Quill

In his lifetime he labored for farmers on him life was tough
And he slept in hay barns one who lived it rough
But in a song of Johnny Tom Gleeson's his name lives today
That words do outlive people does seem true to say

In song Bold Thady Quill does live on in memory
As a legendary figure of old Ballinagree
But he was not the man the song made him out to be
That sometimes words can deceive us would you not agree?