> Shirley Collins > Songs > Dennis O’Reilly

Dennis O’Reilly

[ Roud 676 ; AFS 29 ; Ballad Index MA062 ; DT DENNOREI ; Mudcat 9743 ; coll. and arr. Edgar Waters, Shirley Collins]

Edwin Goodwin sang Denis O’Reilly on the 1957 Wattle album Australian Traditional Singers. The album’s sleeve notes commented:

In 1954 Dr. C. English was resident medical officer in a Sydney hospital. He discovered that one of his patients, Edwin Goodwin, knew a number of bush folk songs. Later, Dr. English and John Meredith recorded these in Mr. Goodwin’s home. He died shortly after these recordings were made. So far, collectors have not discovered any other singer who knows Denis O’Reilly. Mr. Goodwin learned it in the early part of this century, whilst working on the Nambucca River, on the north coast of New South Wales.

Shirley Collins recorded Dennis O’Reilly in a two day session in London in 1958 for her 1960 LP False True Lovers. She recorded this song for a second time for her 1964 Collector EP Shirley Sings Irish. Alan Lomax noted on the first album:

Dennis O’Reilly is an instance of the speed with which folk songs are travelling nowadays. It began its life as one of the many songs of the Irish immigrants to Australia. Mister Goodwin of Leichhardt, New South Wales, picked it up on the Nambucca River of NSW and, when he was 73, sang it for Cecil English and John Meredith. From them it passed into the repertoire of Edgar Waters, the Australian ballad collector, who brought it to England and taught it to Shirley Collins. My guess is that from her record it will pass into the repertoire of the young folk singers on this continent.

Martyn Wyndham-Read sang Denis O’Reilly in 1978 on his Autogram album Ballad Singer.

The Original Bushwackers Band sang Denis O’Reilly on the 1982 compilation of songs from the Larrikin label, Bushwackers and City Slickers.

Lyrics

Shirley Collins sings Dennis O’Reilly

My name is Dennis O’Reilly,
From Dublin town I come,
To travel the wide world over
I crossed the Australian main.

Chorus:
With my pack all on my shoulder
And a blackthorn in my hand
I’ll travel the bush of Australia
Like a true-born Irishman.

When I arrived in Melbourne
All the girls all jumped for joy,
Saying one unto the other,
“Here comes my Irish boy.”

Chorus:
With a pack all on his shoulder
And a blackthorn in his hand
I’ll travel the bush of Australia
With a true-born Irishman.

“Oh daughter, dearest daughter,
What is it you would do?
Now would you marry an Irish man,
A man you never knew?

“Oh mother, dear mother,
Sure I’ll do the best I can,
I’ll travel the wide world over
With my true-born Irishman.”

Chorus:
With a pack all on his shoulder
And a blackthorn in his hand
I’ll travel the wide world over
With a true-born Irishman.