MacAlpinesMan©2022TonyFallon0330

MacAlpinesMan©2022TonyFallon0330

The lovely mountains of Mourne are now so far away

I used to live beside them in my youth but I could not stay

I had worked a year in Belfast but the pounds were too few

I had also shaped up in England with McAlpine's crew

The local bars would cash your check on condition you spent

After a few nights drinking there was little left for rent

Now I had no mother with me to keep me going straight

And fast food in McDonalds was not a healthy plate

I found out years later Guinness has laxative powers

Instead of watching TV I'd be on the toilet for hours

Home again in Belfast at Christmas my mother was nerved

She said I looked like I had lost two stone and looked half starved

She said England had too many vices and I shouldn't stay

That I should go to uncle Mike over in the USA

Mike owned an Irish bar but he had friends in construction

And having worked for MacAlpine's was an introduction

I was living in Riverdale and working in Fordham Heights

On the weekends I would take the subway to see the sights

I was going to Gaelic Park I still had my soccer boots

And I found out some Gaelic teams were looking for recruits

They brought me to Van Courtland and taught me the solo run

I scored a point and goal for Mayo in a game and we won

I put a quarter in my boot that's an old Irish pishogue

And most of the Mayo guys didn't understand my Ulster brogue

My mother always told me that Belfast girls were the best

That night I met a girl from Kiltoom which is in the west

I was mesmerized as they were dancing wild ceili sets

One of the players introduced her and I have no regrets

Some say that silver brings real good luck at certain events

I can guarantee I'll never spent that twenty-five cents

We are living now in Rockland two daughters and Marie

On the shore of the Hudson not far from the Tappan Zee