Raised on songs & stories, heroes of renown
The pa**ing tales & glories that once was Dublin town
The hallowed halls & houses, the haunting childrens' rhymes
That once was Dublin city in the rare ould times
[Chorus:]
Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines
I remember Dublin city in the rare ould times
My name it is Sean Dempsey, as Dublin as can be
Born hard & late in Pimlico, in a house that ceased to be
By trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancy
Like my house that fell to progress, my trade's a memory
& I courted Peggy Dignan, as pretty as you please
A rogue & a child of Mary, from the rebel liberties
I lost her to a student chap with a skin as black as coal
When he took her off to Birmingham, she took away my soul
[Chorus]
The years have made me bitter, the gargle dims me brain
'Cause Dublin keeps on changing & nothing seems the same
The Pillar & the Met have gone, the Royal long since pulled down
As the great unyielding concrete makes a city of my town
[Chorus]
Fare thee well sweet Anna Liffey, I can no longer stay
& watch the new gla** cages, that spring up along the quay
My mind's too full of memories, too old to hear new chimes
I'm part of what was Dublin in the rare ould times
[Chorus]