When New York Was Irish

I'll sing you a song of days long ago
 when people from Galway and the county Mayo
 and all over Ireland came over to stay
 and take up a new life in Americay
 They were ever so happy, they were ever so sad
 to grow old in a new world through good times and bad
 all the parties and weddings, the ceilis and wakes
 when New York was Irish, full of joys and heartbreaks
 We worked on the subways, we ran the saloons
 We built all the bridges, we played all the tunes
 We put out the fires & controlled City Hall
 We started with nothing & wound up with it all
 Chorus
 You could travel from Kingsbridge to Queens or mid town
 from Highbridge to Bay Ridge, from up town to down
 from the East Side to the seaside's sweet summer scenes---
 we made New York City our island of dreams
 Chorus
 I look at the photos now brittle with time
 of the people I cherished when the city was mine
 O, how I loved all those radiant smiles
 how I long for the days when we danced in the aisles
 Chorus