Rare Ould Times
Composer(s): Pete St. John
Performer(s): The Dubliners
and multiple other artists
Raised on songs and stories
Heroes of renown
The passing tales and glories
That once was Dublin Town
The hallowed halls and houses
The haunting childrens rhymes
That once was Dublin City
In the rare ould times
Ring a ring a rosey
As the light declines
I remember Dublin City
In the rare ould times
My name it is Sean Dempsey
As Dublin as can be
Born hard and late in Pimlico
In a house that ceased to be
By trade I was a cooper
Lost out to redundancy
Like my house that fell to progress
My trades a memory
And I courted Peggy Dignan
As pretty as you please
A rogue and child of Mary
From the rebel Liberties
I lost her to a student chap
With skin as black as coal
When he took her off to Birmingham
She took away my soul
Ring a ring a rosey
As the light declines
I remember Dublin City
In the rare ould times
The years have made me bitter
The gargle's dimmed me brain
'Cause Dublin keeps on changing
And nothing seems the same
The Pillar and the Met. have gone
The Royal long since pulled down
As the grey unyielding concrete
Makes a city of my town
Ring a ring a rosey
As the light declines
I remember Dublin City
In the rare ould times
Fare thee well sweet Anna Liffey
I can no longer stay
And watch the new glass cages
That spring up along the Quay
My mind's too full of memories
Too old to hear new chimes
I'm part of what was Dublin
In the rare ould times
Ring a ring a rosey
As the light declines
I remember Dublin City
In the rare ould times
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