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Eileen McMahon

[ Roud 9282 ; Ballad Index RcEilMcM ; Mudcat 13545 ; trad.]

Margaret Barry sang Eileen McMahon to Bill Leader and Reg Hall at Bill’s mother’s home, Camden Town, London, in mid-1968. This recording was included in 2018 on the Topic anthology of songs of exile and emigration, Farewell, My Own Dear Native Land (The Voice of the People Volume 4).

Lewis Barfoot sang Eileen McMahon on an October 2024 download single, taken from her forthcoming EP The Old Bog Road. She noted:

Lewis learnt Eileen McMahon from the elders at Dunmanway Hospital in West Cork where she ran music sessions with the inpatients and day-care patients:

The Elders would share fragments of old songs and send me home with a long list to learn. They couldn’t always remember the whole song themselves, but would be brutally honest in telling me when I’d got it wrong. The shared experience of singing with and learning from these Elders was liminal and beautiful, I hope they will enjoy the recordings. It is an honour to keep these old folk songs alive. I never met my East Cork grandparents and I only learned their names in 2018. This project has helped me re-connect with that generation and also with my heritage.

Lyrics

Nargaret Barry sings Eileen McMahon

One night as I lay on my pillow,
A vision came into my view
Of a ship sailing out on the ocean,
And the wind it tremendously blew.

On the deck stood a handsome young lady.
Her equals I ne’er saw before.
As she sighed for the wrongs of her country
Saying, “I’m banished from Erin’s green shore.

“My name it is Eileen McMahon.
My age it is scarcely eighteen,
And I thank you. kind sir, for your kindness,
For you don’t know how lonely I’ve been.”

“For riches indeed I have plenty.
Don’t mention such trifles to me.”
As the big ship sails out on the ocean,
His fond wife she promised to be.

As the ship out on the ocean has vanished,
And I fancy I see her once more.
My beautiful Eileen McMahon,
She’s the pride of old Erin’s green shore.

Lewis Barfoot sings Eileen McMahon

Last night as I lay on my pillow,
A vision appeared into my view
Of a ship sailing out on the ocean
And the wind it tremendously blew.

On the deck stood a handsome young maiden
Whose features I ne’er saw before.
As she sighed for the wrongs of her country,
Saying, “I’m banished from Erin’s green shore.”

In thought I addressed this fair maiden
And asked her the cause of her sighs,
Saying, “Cheer up my beautiful lady
And I’ll be your slave til I die.”

She looked at me in meditation
As the tears from her blue eyes did flow,
Saying, “I’m a poor exile from Erin,
The land where the sweet shamrocks grow.

“My name it is Eileen McMahon
My age it is scarcely eighteen.
And I thank you dear sir for your kindness
For you don’t know how lonely I’ve been.

“For the want of employment in Ireland
I was forced as an exile to roam
Far away from my home in Killarney
Where in childhood I longed for to be.

“Far away from each mountain and valley,
From Punch bowl to the gap of Dunloe,
All around by the sweet shores of Muckross
And the beautiful spot Aghadoe.”

It was then I awoke from my slumber
To gaze at my Eileen mo chroí,
It was only the face of my mother
As fondly she gazed at me.

Now the ship on the ocean had vanished
In fancy I see her once more,
My beautiful Eileen McMahon
The the pride of Erin’s green shore,
My beautiful Eileen McMahon
The the pride of Erin’s green shore.