Living in Kilkee and working in Kilrush, as well as having friends in North Kerry and knowing several people who sing the song, I've been curious about The Cliffs of Dooneen for some time myself.

Finally, I've recently been sent Jack McAuliffe's supposedly "original" words, which prove to be those of a significantly different "Kerry" version of the "Clare" song that most people are familiar with. Indeed, has anybody ever heard the McAuliffe version sung?

THE CLIFFS OF DOONEEN, by Jack McAuliffe:

Verse 1

I have travelled afar from my own native home.
Away o'er the billows, away o'er the foam
I have seen many sights but no equal I've seen
To the old rocky slopes by the cliffs of Dooneen.

Verse 2

I have seen many sights of Columbus fair land,
Africa and Egypt so Delightful and grand,
But dig me a grave were the grass it grows green
On the old rocky slopes by the cliffs of Dooneen.

Verse 3

How pleasant to walk on a fine summer's day,
And to view the sweet cherries that will never decay,
Where the seagrass and seaweed and the old carrageen
All grow from the rocks by the cliffs of Dooneen.

Verse 4

The Sandhills of Beal are glorious and grand,
And the old castle ruins looking out on the strand,
Where the hares and the rabbits are there to be seen
Making holes for their homes by the cliffs of Dooneen.

Verse 5

I have tracked my love's footsteps to the boathouse of old
And the dance on the hillside where love stories are told,
It's there you will see both the lad and the colleen
Moving round by the shore of the cliffs of Dooneen

Verse 6

Farewell Dooneen, Farewell for a while,
And to those kind-Hearted neighbours that I left in the isle,
Ma my soul never rest till it's laid on the green
Near the old rocky slopes by the Cliffs of Dooneen

Notice that these words make no claim to be able to see Kilrush, Kilkee or anywhere else in Clare, whilst all the places described in the usual version of the song can be seen from Moveen, outside Kilkee.