“The Groves of Glanmire”
Description
The singer "come to this country a stranger" and, in his travels, has found "none to equal Glanmire." He lists the fine groves, the Bride Valley, the salmon fishing, hare hunting, "the finest of oak, lime and larch" and working mills.
Notes
This is more moderate in praise of local places than "Castle Hyde" and "Dear Mallow, Adieu," and fairly close in spirit to "The Town of Passage" (I). On the other hand it is just one more of the family of songs that has spawned so many parodies around Cork. See, for example, "The Groves of Blarney,' "The Plains of Drishane,' "Darling Neddeen,' "The Town of Passage" (II and III) and "The Praise of Kinsale." Or maybe this is just too subtle a parody for me to understand; it does end with a strange line that of all the mills working "there is one making silverspring starch." Silverspring Starch Company is/was in Glanmire (according to an entry on the Limerick City Council site 2/13/2006).
OCanainn: "Glanmire [is] some four miles from Cork city, on the Dublin Road." - BS
Cross references
- cf. "The Groves of Blarney" (theme: extravagant praise of Cork) and references there
References
- OCanainn, pp. 90-91, "The Groves of Glanmire" (1 text, 1 tune)
- BI, OCan090