G C G
It was on a dreary new year's eve as the shades of night came down,
G C G Em C D
A lorry load of volunteers approached the border town,
G C G Em C D
There was men from Dublin and from Cork, Fermanagh and Tyrone,
G Em C G
And their leader was a Limerick man, Sean South from Garryowen
[Verse 2]
G C G
And as they moved along the streets up to the barrack door,
G C G Em C D
They scorned the danger they might face, their fate that lay in store,
G C G Em C D
They were fighting for old Ireland, to claim their very own,
G Em C G
And the foremost of that gallant band was South from Garryowen.
[Verse 3]
G C G
But the sergeant foiled their daring plan, he spied them through the door,
G C G Em C D
The Sten guns and the rifles a hail of death did pour,
G C G Em C D
And when that awful night was past, two men lay as cold as stone,
G Em C G
There was one from near the border, and one from Garryowen.
[Verse 4]
G C G
No more he will hear the seagull cry o'er the murmuring Shannon tide,
G C G Em C G D
For he fell beneath a Northern sky, brave Hanlon by his side,
G C G Em C D
They have gone to join that gallant band of Plunkett, Pearse and Tone,
G Em C G
A martyr for old Ireland, Sean South from Garryowen
