On a Single Day - Christy Moore

A list of exports from Cork Harbour

On a single day

The fourteenth of September, Eighteen Forty-Seven

Ran as follows:

147 barrels of pork,

986 casks of ham,

27 sacks of bacon,

528 boxes of eggs,

1, 397 firkins of butter,

477 sacks of oats,

720 sacks of flour,

380 sacks of barley,

187 head of cattle,

296 head of sheep, and

4, 338 barrels of miscellaneous provisions,

On a single day,

The ships sailed out from Cork Harbour

With their bellies in the water.

On a single day in County Galway,

The great majority of the poor located there

Were in a state of starvation,

Many hourly expecting death to relieve their suffering.

On a single day,

The Lady Mayoress held a ball

At the Mansion House in Dublin

In the presence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Dancing continued until the early hours,

And refreshments of the most varied and sumptuous

Nature

Were supplied with inexhaustible profusion.

On a single day.

On a single day.

It’s about time this little country of ours had a bit

Of peace.