
Star of the County Down
Near Banbridge Town
In the County Down
One morning last July
Down a boreen green
Came a sweet colleen
She smiled as she passed me by
She looked so sweet
From her two white feet
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair
Such a coaxing elf
Had to shake myself
To make sure I was standing there
​
From Bantry Bay
Up to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I’ve seen
Like the fair colleen
That I met in the Country Down
​
As she onward sped
I shook my head
And I looked with a feeling rare
I said, oh my, to a passer-by
“Who’s the maid with the
Nut-brown hair?”
He looked at me
And he said to me
“She’s the gem of Ireland’s crown
Young Rosie McCann
From the banks of the Bann
The Star of the County Down.”
​
From Bantry Bay
Up to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I’ve seen
Like the fair colleen
That I met in the Country Down
​
At the harvest fair
She’ll be surely there
And I’ll dress in my Sunday clothes
With my hat cocked right
And my shoes shon bright
For a smile from the
Nut-brown Rose
No horse i’ll yoke
Or pipe I smoke
‘till the rust in my plough turn brown
And a smiling bride
By my own fireside
The Star of the County Down
​
From Bantry Bay
Up to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I’ve seen
Like the fair colleen
That I met in the Country Down