Dennis, could it have been this one?

DEAR OLD DONEGAL

1 It seems like only yesterday
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,
a stranger on your shore,
But the Irish luck was with me here,
and riches came galore.

And now that I'm going back again
to dear old Erin's isle,
My friends will meet me at the dock
and greet me with a smile
Their faces, sure, I've almost forgot,
I've been so long away,
But me mother will introduce them all,
and this to me will say: CHORUS: Shake hands with your uncle Mike, me boy,
And here is your sister Kate,
And there's the girl you used to swing
Down by the garden gate,
Shake hands with all of the neighbors,
And kiss the colleens all
You're as welcome as the flowers of spring
To Dear Old Donegal.

PATTER: Meet ...
Branigan, Flanagan, Milligan, Gilligan,
Duffy, McGuffy, Malachy, Mahone
Rafferty, Lafferty, Donnelly, Connelly,
Dooley, O'Hooley, Muldoney, Malone

Madigan, Cadigan, Lanigan, Flanigan
Fagin, O'Hagin, O'Hoolihan, Flynn
Shanihan, Manihan, Fogarty, Hogarty,
Kelly, O'Kelly, McGuinness, McGuinn.

2 They'll give a party when I go home,
they'll come from near and far.
They'll line the road for miles and miles
with Irish jaunting cars.
The whiskey will flow like buttermilk,
'twill fill our hearts with joy.
The piper will play an Irish reel
to greet the Yankee boy.

The dancers will reel the whole night long,
such fun as never seen.
The lads will be decked in corduroy,
the colleens wearin' green.
There'll be thousands there that I never saw,
I've been so long away,
But my mother will introduce them all
and this to me will say: (CHORUS )

(PATTER FOR 2D VERSE:) Meet ...
Madigan, Cadigan, Lanigan, Flanigan
Fagin, O'Hagin, O'Hoolihan, Flynn
Shanihan, Manihan, Fogarty, Hogarty,
Kelly, O'Kelly, McGuinness, McGuinn.

An almost-complete version of this was entered in a forum thread some time back, but I got a time-out error when I tried to find it so I went ahead and typed this in. Anyway this version is as complete/accurate as I could make it with a couple of years of sleuthing around. Hope it's the song you're looking for!

By the way, I had just finished typing some corrections to this into my lyrics file, based on a typed version I found in my father's stuff, not three minutes before I read your request. I do hope it's the song you're looking for! - Do you need the tune? - Rita F.