The woman in the song was O'Casey's first serious love, a young Dublin teacher called Máire Keating (c.1898-1982). She is 'Sheila Moorneen' in the play 'Red Roses for Me'. The relationship lasted about a year: eventually foundering on age, class and religious differences. Hurt by his portrayal of her as a repressed Catholic, Máire erected a wall of silence regarding O'Casey. She did though donate his letters to her to the National Library of Ireland, with the proviso that they remained sealed until 1980, a hundred years after O'Casey's birth.

Below are my own two verses (4 & 5).

She stands in the door, her eyes cast down lowly,
A catch in her voice, she spoke softly and slowly,
''Tis man's sad delusion, with wealth he'd be happy,
I'd rather a rich bunch of red roses from thee'.

And when darkness descends, on sweet Inishfallen,
And Liffey no more flows down to the sea,
Still will you hear a faithful voice calling,
'I carry a rich bunch of red roses for thee'.