Intro: A    G     D    A 


[Verso 1]

A                     G              D              A 
My name is Patrick Sheehan, and my years are thirty-four 
A                     G              D              E 
Tipperary is my native place, not far from Galtymore 
A                   G          D                 E 
I came of honest parents, but now they’re lying low 
A                            G                   D           A 
Though many’s the pleasant days we spent in the Glen of Aherlow 


[Verso 2]
 
A                     G              D              A 
My father died; I closed his eyes outside the cabin door 
A                     G              D              E 
For the landlord and the sheriff too were there the day before 
A                   G          D                 E 
And then my loving mother and my sisters three also 
A                            G                   D           A 
Were forced to go with broken hearts from the Glen of Aherlow 


[Verso 3]

A                     G              D              A 
For three long months, in search of work, I wandered far and near 
A                     G              D              E 
I then went to the poorhouse to see my mother dear 
A                   G          D                 E 
The news I heard near broke my heart, but still in all my woe 
A                            G                   D           A 
I blessed the friends who made their graves in the Glen of Aherlow 


[Verso 4]
 
A                     G              D              A 
Bereft of home and kith and kin, with plenty all around 
A                     G              D              E 
I starved within my cabin, and slept upon the ground 
A                   G          D                 E 
But cruel as my lot was, I never did hardship know 
A                         G          D           A 
’til I joined the English army, far away from Aherlow 



[Verso 5]
 
A                     G              D              A 
‘Rouse up there’, cried the corporal, ‘Ya lazy Irish hound 
A                     G              D              E 
Why don’t you hear the bugle, its call to arms to sound ?’ 
A                   G          D                 E 
I found I had been dreaming of the days long, long ago 
A                         G          D           A 
And I woke upon Sebastopol, and not in Aherlow 



[Verso 6]
 
A                     G              D              A 
I tried to find my musket, how dark I thought the night 
A                     G              D              E 
O blessed God, it wasn’t dark, it was the broad daylight 
A                   G          D                 E 
And when I found that I was blind, my tears began to flow 
A                         G          D           A 
And I longed for even a pauper’s grave in the Glen of Aherlow 


[Verso 7]
 
A                     G              D              A 
A poor neglected mendicant, I wander Dublin’s streets 
A                     G              D              E 
My nine months’ pension it being out, I beg from all I meet 
A                   G          D                 E 
As I joined my country’s tyrants, my face I can never show 
A                         G          D           A 
Amongst my dear old neighbors in the Glen of Aherlow. 



[Verso 8]
 
A                     G              D              A 
So Irish youths, dear countrymen, take heed in what I say 
A                     G              D              E 
For if you join the English ranks, you’ll surely rue the day 
A                   G          D                 E 
And whenever you’re tempted, a-soldiering to go 
A                         G          D           A 
Remember poor blind Sheehan from the Glen of Aherlow