When New York Was Irish        by Terence Winch



Verse 1:
     A                             E
I'll sing you a song of days long ago
     A                          D         E
When people from Galway and the County Mayo
    A                             E
And all over Ireland came over to stay
    A                     D    A
And take up a new life in Amerikay.

Chorus:
               A                        D       A
     They were ever so happy, they were ever so sad
             A                          D                      E
     To grow old in a new world through good times and bad.
             A                         D           A
     All the parties and weddings, the ceili's and wakes
          A                           D             A
     When New York was Irish, full of joys and heartbreaks.


Verse 2:
We worked on the subways, we ran the saloons,
We built all the bridges, we played all the tunes.
We put out the fires and controlled City Hall.
We started with nothing and wound up with it all.

Instrumental:
A A D E        D A E E        A A D E        A A D A

Verse 3:
You can travel from Kingsbridge to Queens or Midtown,
From Highbridge to Bay Ridge, from uptown to down,
From the  East  side to the  seaside's sweet Summer scenes,
We made New York City our island of dreams.

Chorus

Verse 4:
I look at the photos, now brittle with time,
Of the people I cherished when the city was mine.
Oh, how I love all those radiant smiles,
How I long for the days when we danced in the aisles

Chorus
Chorus (unaccomanied)

Words & music by Terence Winch © 1987 Green Linnet Music.