John Anthony Murphy

Though far from where he was born and raised he lived his last night and day
Among his ancestors in Drishane's old cemetery John Anthony Murphy's last remains lay
From his birthplace in Ballydaly some three miles away
The love of home strong as the wise one does say

The Murphys near Ballydaly Church in Duhallow are well liked and well known
And the people of Ballydaly will mourn for the passing of one of their own
In the place where he had lived in his younger years
The final farewell to him would not have gone without tears

Those who knew him well with fondness him will recall
But eventually death it will come to us all
The longest lived human life in time not long why otherwise pretend
Two years short of eighty John Anthony's journey came to an end

As a boy on the Millstreet Ballydaly road on a Summer Sunday
At a road bowling score i saw John Anthony play
Sparks flew off of the road from the steel bowl that he threw hard and long
A young man near his prime then broad shouldered and strong

In London where he lived with his wife Breeda and his family he died
But his last remains are at rest in his home countryside
And though the great gift of life from John Anthony Murphy may have gone
In everyone who knew him he is living on.