“IRELAND FOR EVER”
Ierne, sweet homeland of the brave,
The loyal heart, the true;
Thou fairest gem of ocean’s wave,
Though long hath gone from you
The ancient glory of thy name,
Yet now hast thou awoke to Fame.

The sons of freedom thou hast borne,
Have proved their mettle well;
On Africa’s battlefields forlorn,
They’ve fiercely fought and fell,
Their wounds in front, and so their name,
Ranks high upon the scroll of Fame.

When Britain viewed with anxious eye,
The progress of the war,
She saw the Irish do and die
More valiantly by far
Than all the rest, who loved the name
And freedom of their nation’s Fame.

Then did Oblivion’s mists roll back
From off our virgin green,
And out into the Sunlight’s track
Stept forth our loved Irene;
What brilliance sparkles from that name
When on it shines the sun of fame.

And now from England’s fair shore,
To Erin’s fairer strand,
The Royal yacht our Queen hath bore
To visit this our land,
Whose children win a gallant name
Of courage stern in fields of Fame.

Lo; Erin kneels with loyal love
Beneath the flag unfurled
The triple flag that waves above
The Empress of the world.
All honour to that noble name,
Forever will we guard its fame,
And shout with loud and long acclaim,!
“God Save the Queen, the Royal Dame.”

T. N. V.
Cullybackey 4th April 1900