Come All Ye, a poem by Thomas Owens, 1954

Come All Ye by Thomas Owens

If we were home in Ireland, but sure it’s far away,

We would ramble up to Derry to pass a pleasant day,

and then light-footed as a lark that bathes in morning dew,

We would see the town of Donegal and the glen of Antrim too.

If we were back again in Ireland to Leinster we would go,

Where grows the grass of Tara beneath a court laid low,

Where great King Chara ruled of old, we would touch with reverend lips,

And then we would go to Dublin, and see the Liffey and the ships,

‘Tis true the town of Dublin we would wander up and down,

And see many places we hold in high renown.

From Murphy’s house in Thomas Street where young Edward died

We would go where Dad and Nan, today are lying side by side,

Yes, if we were over there in Ireland ’tis old Kildare we would love to gaze

And that little old thatched cabin where Dad began his days,

Ah, to sit and watch and hear the little barefoot gos-ons

They would thrill your heart with joy as they sing “Did your Mother Come from Ireland,”

“I’ll take you Home Again Kathleen” and “Danny Boy.”

If we were home in Ireland and ’tis homeland still,

Although we never saw it, nor perhaps we never will

We would spill the loving of our soul like roses spill their scent,

From that glorious land of our desire and then we would be content.

This is a poem that Dad Owens (Thomas Onions) wrote to his children – Rhode, Thomas, Albert, Pat, Bryn, Myles, Gerald, Masey, Geraldine, Kathleen, Betty – wishing that they could go to Ireland. Taken from The Evening Telegram, 16 March 1954, page 4, St. John’s Newfoundland. Submitted by Geraldine Owens