Dear Old Donegal

"Dear Old Donegal" is a traditional Irish folk song popularised by American singer Bing Crosby and written by Steve Graham. The song has an 'upbeat' rhythm and is meant to be the words of a poor Irishman who has to leave his homeland to go to America, however, he gets to return to his native County Donegal after becoming successful in the United States.

Dear Old Donegal was also performed by Judy Garland, Zina Bethune, and Vic Damone as part of the All-Purpose Holiday Medley on The Judy Garland Show in 1963.^[1] It was parodied by Allan Sherman on his album "My Son, the Folk Singer", as "Shake Hands With Your Uncle Max", using Jewish references rather than Irish. The tune of the song was used in the US comedy Family Guy for the song "Drunken Irish Dad", which was sung by Peter Griffin in the episode "Peter's Two Dads". The song was even nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards.^[2]

Recordings

• Bing Crosby
• Mike Douglas, whose version appeared on an episode of Space Ghost
• Shirley Ross, performed on Command Performance in 1943
• Dennis Morgan, performs it in the film My Wild Irish Rose (1947)
• Connie Francis
• Josef Locke
• Ruby Murray
• Paddy Noonan
• Paul O'Keefe
• Dennis Day

It was also sung by "Barney Fife" in an episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" (when he was dressed up like a woman to show what a pushover the Mayberry Bank was). Its latest incarnation is a comedic version about an evil capitalist arriving in Hell, where he meets all his role models in the trade, by Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine, parodists from Woodstock, NY, on their 2007 CD "Poor, On Tour, & Over 54".

Lyrics

It seems like only yesterday,

Since I sailed from out of Cork,

A wanderer from Erin's isle,

I landed in New York,

There wasn't a soul to greet me there,

For A stranger on the shore,

But the Irish luck was with me boy's,

And riches came galore,

And now that I'm going back again,

To dear old Erin's isle,

Me friends will greet me on the pier,

And greet me with a smile,

There'll be faces there that I Never knew,

I've been so long away,

But me mother will introduce them all,

And this is what she'll say,

Shake hands with your Uncle Mike, me boy,

And there's your sister, Kate,

Sure she is the girl you used to swing,

Down by the garden gate,

Shake hands with all of the neighbours,

And kiss the colleens all,

You're as welcome as the flowers in May,

To dear old Donegal,

They'll give a party when I come home,

And They'll come from near and far,

And line the roads for miles and miles,

With Irish jauntin' cars,

The Whiskey'll flow like buttermilk,

We'll fill your hearts with joy,

And The piper will play an Irish tune,

To greet the Yankee boy,

We'll dance and sing the whole night long,

Such fun was never seen,

The boys'll be decked in corduroy,

The colleens decked in green,

There'll be thousands there that I never saw,

I've been so long away,

And me mother will introduce them all,

And this is what she'll say,

Shake hands with your Uncle Mike, me boy,

And there's your sister, Kate,

Sure she is the girl you used to swing,

Down by the garden gate,

Shake hands with all of the neighbours,

And kiss the colleens all,

You're as welcome as the flowers in May,

To dear old Donegal,

Meet Branigan, Fannigan, Milligan, Gilligan,

Duffy, McCuffy, Malachy, Mahone,

Rafferty, Lafferty, Donnelly, Connelly,

Dooley, O'Hooley, Muldowney, Malone,

Madigan, Cadigan, Lanihan, Flanihan,

Fagan, O'Hagan, O'Hoolihan, Flynn,

Shanihan, Manihan, Fogarty, Hogarty,

Kelly, O'Kelly, McGuinness, McGuinne,

Shake hands with your Uncle Mike, me boy,

And there's your sister, Kate.

Sure she is the girl you used to swing

Down by the garden gate.

Shake hands with all of the neighbours,

And kiss the colleens all;

You're as welcome as the flowers in May

To dear old Donegal.

Certain versions of the lyrics have the main character/singer's 'Sister Kate' and the girl he used to swing down by the garden gate as separate people with the girl he used to swing possibly an old crush about to be rekindled.

References