Portlaoise Jail

For thirty years I've been a tinker

I've tramped the mountains and the glen

I've courted girls in every county

And I fought the very best of men

I drank an awful lot of porter

I've slept in sun and snow and gale

But the life I loved was taken from me

When is spent two years in Portlaoise Jail

Portlaoise Jail would tame a tiger

Try me boys and do get bail

There's many a heart that sobs and sighs

Inside the walls of Portlaoise Jail

I joined a camp outside Killorglin

The night before they crowned the King

There was song and dance and plenty porter

With our wagons formed round in a ring

Till a foxy lass sat down beside me

Be dad, says I, I'm alright here

But her husband roared and leapt between us

And he knocked me down with a kick in the ear

I hit him hard below the navel

He hit the ground with a mighty wail

His neck was broke, he died in seconds

And I spent puck fair in Portlaoise Jail

Portlaoise Jail would tame a tiger

Try me boys and do get bail

There's many a heart that sobs and sighs

Inside the walls of Portlaoise Jail