It was Sergeant Mike O'Leary who broke the barricade,
Who took the chance, and won the Cross that crowns the bayonet
trade;
'Twas "M'anam do Dhia," and "How's your heart," and "How could
we forget?"
But Michael from Inchigeela will fill a ballad yet.
Oh! a fair and pleasant land is Cork for wit and courtesy,
Ballyvourney East and Baile Dubh and Kilworth to the sea:
And when they light the turf to-night, spit, stamp, swear as of
yore,
It's the Sergeant Mike O'Leary's ghosts that ward the southern
shore.