[Intro]
Sad are the homes round Garryowen,
Since they lost their joy and pride,
And the banshee cries round every vale,
Along the Shannonside.

That city of those ancient walls,
Unbroken treaty stone,
Undying fame surrounds your name,
Seán South of Garryowen.

[Verse]
It was on a dreary New Year's Eve as the shades of night came down,
A lorry load of volunteers approached the border town,
There was men from Dublin and from Cork, Fermanagh and Tyrone, (You're on your own)
But their leader was a Limerick man, Seán South from Garryowen.

And as they marched along the streets up to the barrack door,
They scorned the danger they might face, their death that lay in store,
They were fighting for old Ireland cause, to claim their very own,
And the foremost of that gallant band was South from Garryowen.

Now the sergeant he spied those daring plans, he spied them through the door,
And the sten guns and the rifle fire, a hail of blood did pour,
And when that awful night had past, two men lay as cold as stone,
There was one from near the border and one from Garryowen.

No more we will hear the seagull's cry, o'er the lonely Shannon's tide,
For he fell beneath that northern sky, O'Hanlon by his side,
He has gone to join that gallant band of Plunkett, Pearse and Tone, (Wolfe Tone!)
Another martyr for old Ireland, Seán South from Garryowen.

May God be with those brave young men, may heaven be their home,
They did not fear the RUC or the Specials on patrol,
Near Brookeborough town, those two men died, in a cabin cold as stone,
There was one from near the border and one from Garryowen.