Star of the County Down

Near Banbridge town, in the County Down

One evening last July

Down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín

And she smiled as she passed me by

She looked so neat, and her two bare feet

And the sheen in her nut-brown hair

Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself

To make sure I was standing there

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the fair cailín

That I met in the County Down

As she onward sped, I shook my head

And I gazed with a feeling queer

And I said, says I, to a passerby

"Who's your one with the nut-brown hair?"

He smiled at me, and with pride says he

"She's the gem of old Ireland's crown

Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann

And the star of the County Down"

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the fair cailín

That I met in the County Down

She'd a soft brown eye, and

A look so sly and a smile like the rose in June

And you held each note from her auburn throat

As she lilted lamenting tunes

At the pattern dance, you'd be in a trance

As she skipped through a jig or a reel

When her eyes she'd roll, as she'd lift your soul

And your heart she would likely steal

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the fair cailín

That I met in the County Down

At the harvest fair, she'll be surely there

And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes

With my hat cocked right and my shoes shined bright

For a smile from the nut-brown Rose

No horse I'll yoke, or pipe I smoke

'Til the rust in my plough turn brown

And a smiling bride by my own fireside

Sits the star of the County Down

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the fair cailín

That I met in the County Down

She'd a soft brown eye, and

A look so sly and a smile like the rose in June

And you held each note from her auburn throat

As she lilted lamenting tunes

At the pattern dance, you'd be in a trance

As she skipped through a jig or a reel

When her eyes she'd roll, as she'd lift your soul

And your heart she would likely steal

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the fair cailín

That I met in the County Down

Near Banbridge town, in the County Down

One evening last July

Down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín

And she smiled as she passed me by

She looked so neat, and her two bare feet

And the sheen of her nut-brown hair

Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself

To make sure I was standing there

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the fair cailín

That I met in the County Down

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the fair cailín

That I met in the County Down

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the fair cailín

That I met in the County Down