The Ghost of Kathleen Lynn – Marion McEvoy August 2023
Did you stand in this same doorway
In the early morning sun?
Or when mists rolled from the mountainside
And drifted through the glen?
Did you bathe in the Avonbeg,
In its gentle waterfalls?
Or on those nights when the air was kind
Did you sleep beneath the stars?
To cherish all the children
Was all you sought to gain,
And you railed against the system
That would profit from their pain.
Along with Erin’s daughters
You kept alive a dream
Through the Dublin lockout’s darkest days
And the Rising of ‘16
Now St. Ultan’s days were dear to you,
But when long hours took their toll
You came to rest your weary bones
You came to feed your soul.
Thirty miles from Dublin town
And a million miles away
From the cares and the hardship
That were yours every day.
To cherish all the children … etc.
Now sometimes I feel you’re near me,
When the night time closes in,
Resting by the fireside
With your dearest Madeleine.
In my dreams I see you listening
By the open cottage door
For the sound of children’s laughter
On the path from Baravore.
And you cherished all the children
It was all you sought to gain,
And you railed against the system
That would profit from their pain.
Now the prayer of Erin’s daughters
Comes drifting on the wind
“May the children be watched over now
By the ghost of Kathleen Lynn”
Song for Anna (Parnell) -
Marion McEvoy
When you were young and life was good to you,
It must have seemed that all the world
Was green and fresh and new.
But soon you found the world you knew
Was built on shifting sands,
That fear and terror, side by side
With famine stalked the land
Chorus
Not for you the easy strains
Of some old well sung tune.
Not for you the small talk
Of the stately drawing room.
You were born to be a leader
You were born before your time,
Destined for your lifetime
To swim against the tide
When you were grown, the cause began to call.
You drew on all your strength
To persevere in spite of all.
You stepped on board a westbound train
And crossed the Shannon waves
To raise a voice in protest
For your peoples’ silent rage.
Chorus
When you were older, life was less than kind.
Years of wasted womanhood
Weighed heavy on your mind.
To the refuge of the seashore
Where you lived without a name,
You brought your light to shine no more
In the shadow of the shame.
Chorus
Marion McEvoy 