A Millstreet Miscellany (3) - Aubane Historical Society

MacGillycuddy resounding a thousand times o'er
MacGillycuddy returned from charming Rathmore"
Even the sale of a farm in Knocknaloman did not escape Joe's watchful eye. The farm was
sold by William Hassett, proprietor of a bar in Rathmore. The buyer was Denis Creedon from sunny
Gortnagown:
"There were bidders upon bidders
Of mighty boast and talk
But humble honest Denis
Did up the ladder walk
Going, going at five and forty
Each boaster's pride was broke
They all gave up the battle and none but Denis spoke
Here is applause to Hassett for Knoknaloman's sold
His handsome bar will glisten now with Creedon's yellow gold
Willie! bleed a barrel and spill it freely round
You land is in your pocket
And your cattle free from pound."
When Katie Buckley of Knocknacopple decided to join the Presentation Order in Rathmore,
the occasion was celebrated with a verse from Joe:
"She's Sister Brendan now, a mother to us all
She'll pave the way before us to Heaven's shining Hall."
Students in Rathmore will always remember the nun as a dedicated and brilliant teacher.
Hilliard's Sale in Killarney was one of the most important occasions for the ladies of Sliabh
Luachra who 'hit' the town in their hundreds to avail of that massive store. Joe was aware of this
and it was an opportunity for him to pen a few lines to advertise Hilliard's wares, knowing that it
would activate the intended bell!:
"Hilliards down in Main Street where we meet with all our friends
With bargains so enticing our money we shall spend."
When a local wit tried to outshine him at composing, in Jerry A's bar in Rathmore, Joe
showed his disgust in the following lines:
"A half boiled egg, you cannot neither eat nor sell
A half bred dog can neither bark nor yell
A half trained tradesman will spoil your block and tools
A half made scholar is a whole time fool."
Joe wrote many romantic songs in which he showed the depth of his love for the beautiful
girls he met on festival days at Cullen on Laitiaran Day, and at The City on May Day. Thus he
wrote of a maiden he met at The City:
"Above the well this fair young belle stood like the Queen of May
The sun's bright rays threw here an there her head of gold away
Her ruby lips did far eclipse yon sun that bakes the lea
And oh! she stole my heart and soul Mavoureen geal mo chroidhe
Then to a tent we straightaway went - I'm telling no white lie
With cakes and sweets she did me treat - with seagrass and bulls-eyes
Each orange red outsized my head and "the dew" was spilling free
Thus so she stole my heart and soul Mavoureen geal mo chroidhe ."
The "Bells of sweet Rathmore" is the best known of his romantic songs:
"When first I met this peerless lass, an angel she did seem
And since that hour by day and night she haunts me like a dream."
Joe did not lack a sense of humour. He shows this side in the song "The Bushes Above
Cahirbarnagh." His character, Pat Murphy, ventured forth in search of a wife but ended up tattered
and torn by the furze bushes in Cahirbarnagh:
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