"The Tern and the Swallow"


Written by Neilly Coney (1918-1988) 1974.
An eel fisherman from Killygonland County Tyrone

Neilly Coney was featured in a documentery series: LOOK NORTH.
A Four-part documentary series looking at well known places and traditional ways of life in Northern Ireland.
Episode: The Tern And The Swallow.
A report on Lough Neagh by fisherman Neilly Coney
Production company: BBC Northern Ireland
Producer: David Hammond
Date: 05/04/1974


The song is about an Irish emigrant reaching old age and longing to return home to County Armagh on the banks of Lough Neagh, where he wishes to be buried.


When the Cuckoo is calling over woodland and valley
And the Tern and the Swallow flies over our bay
Then it’s longing I’ll be for the land of my father
Where Bann and black water sweep down to Lough Neagh

A home I have made in the land of the stranger
And it’s manys a long year since I left Derry quay
Still I dream of the blooming and the glens of old Ireland
Where Bann and black water sweep down to Lough Neagh

And it’s soon I must start and this is my last journey
For my eyes they grow dim and hair sparse and grey
And it’s soon I must follow the Tern and the Swallow
Where Bann and black water sweep down to Lough Neagh

I long for to see the dark waters of Lough Neagh
And I long for to gaze on Slieve Gallion Braes
And I long for to follow the Tern and the Swallow
Where Bann and black water sweep down to Lough Neagh

And when I return to my native land
In the Spring I will hear the Cuckoo sing round Lough Neagh
And I’ll be out there waiting for the Tern and Swallow
Where Bann and black water sweep down to Lough Neagh

And all I ask is a cairn in the land of my father
Where Bann and black water sweep down to Lough Neagh  



Artist recordings

Cara Dillon
Album: Wanderer (2017) (above lyrics)

Maurice Leyden
Album: The Tern and the Swallow (2016)



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