Mountain side full of quartzite Hills covered In bog soil Only for grazing Land so infertile
Crystal lakes Purple heather No potato to grow Children light as a feather
Fields riddled with blight Landlords in the big houses Still doing alright
Famine comes Hard times Soup kitchens People line The fight to survive Long queue’s Illness and death Is all the news
Land of my mother Land of my father Land of my ancestor
Bailiffs swarm Battles ensue Tenement shacks House in disrepair
Dilapidation Dreams of Emancipation The only answer was Emigration
To impose Bishops will The last Druid Colmcille His Story was stolen Hearts pure People still unbroken Native tongue As gaeilge No English To be spoken
Glenveigh Errigal Poisioned Glen How I long to be there once again
The hills of Donegal
Land of my mother Land of my father Land of my ancestor.
This poem came to me over some time I spent on the land in west Donegal among the captivating Derryveagh mountains. The people here really do have hearts as big as their mountains.
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