B'fhearr liom gan amhras
God-é b'ail dam dá chur i gcéill,
Toirdhealbhach Bhriain ádhmhuil,
Diffusing soft pleasure
Dá mbeinn thiar i n-Árainn
Nó i gCáirlinn na séad,
Mar ngluaiseann gach sár-long
Le claireid is le méad,
Mar shásadh dhom féin
Cupán geal Uí Eaghra
Bheith láimh le mo bhéal!
A's a liachta ádh maith na dhéidh,
A's gurbé deir ollamh na bréag:
Dair mo láimh-se ní bréag:
Tearraigh tráth fá mo dhéin,
Go n-ólam as an trár-chupá
Sláinte bhreágh Chéin.
Were I blessed in sweet Aran
Or Carlingford shade,
Where ships swiftly sailing
With claret and mead,
And glee to each heart,
Still the cup of O'Hara
Would greater impart.
Replay background music: Keene O'Hara
For phonetics consult the pocket dictionary Fóclóir Póca.
English Text: Carolan, the Life and times of an Irish Harper by Donal
Joseph O'Sullivan, 1958 Vol 2 pg 80 No 130.
Irish Text: The Poems of Carolan by Tomás Ó
Máille, Irish Texts Society, 1916 pg 142 No 29.
Musical Notations: Op. Cit O'Sullivan vol 1.