I
John Mandeville: last Christmas eve,
We pulled the holly down,
And set the bonfires alight,
In brave old Mitchelstown.
Ah: we were proud for you were free,
Dishonours baneful blight,
Unsullied gave you back to us,
Tried by vindictive might.
Close guarded in your warm hearts Core,
Was Ireland's sacred name,
You made her sorrows all your own,
And gloried in her fame.