The Galtee Mountain Boy

Patsy Halloran | Christy Moore

I joined the flying column in 1916
In Cork with Sean Moylan in Tipperary with Dan Breen
Arrested by free staters and sentenced for to die
Farewell to Tipperary said the Galtee mountain boy

We went across the valleys and over the hilltops green
Where we met with Dinny Lacey, Sean Hogan and Dan Breen
Sean Moylan and his gallant men that kept the flag flying high
Farewell to Tipperary said the Galtee mountain boy

We tracked the Dublin mountains we were rebels on the run
Though hunted night and morning we were outlaws but free men
We tracked the Wicklow mountains as the sun was shining high
Farewell to Tipperary said the Galtee mountain boy

I bid farewell to old Clonmel that I never more will see
And to the Galtee mountains that oft times sheltered me
The men who fought for their liberty and who died without a sigh
May their cause be ne’er forgotten said the Galtee mountain boy

The Flying Columns were groups of men who roamed the countryside carrying out ambushes on British solders during the Black and Tan war 1919-1921 and then during the Irish Civil War, Christy Moore later put the extra verse on the end.