Sad are the homes round Garryowen
Since they lost their joy and pride
And the banshee cry links every vale
Along the Shannonside
That city of the ancient walls
Unbroken treaty stone
Undying fame surrounds your name
Sean South from Garryowen

'Twas on a dreary New Year's Eve
As the shades of night came down
A lorry load of volunteers approached the border town
There were men from Dublin and from Cork, Fermanagh and Tyrone
And their leader was a Limerick man
Sean South from Garryowen

As they moved along the street up to the barracks door
They scorned the danger they might face
Their fate that lay in store
They were fighting for old Ireland
To claim their very own
And the foremost of that gallant band
Was South from Garryowen

But the sergeant spied their daring plan
He spied them through the door
The Sten guns and the rifles a hail of death did pour
And when that awful night had passed
Two men lay cold as stone
There was one from near the border
And one from Garryowen
No more he will hear the seagull's cry
O'er the murmurring Shannon tide
For he fell beneath a northern sky, brave Hanlon by his side
They have gone to join that gallant band
Of Plunkett, Pearse and Tone
A martyr for old Ireland
Sean South from Garryowen