Saturday Night, packed in tight all together in the Big Marquee
When the man from The Cork Examiner comes up and says to me
Why do you keep coming back to The Marquee every year?
Ah the answer’s plain and simple Mick, the reason’s very clear
It’s the reels in Ringaskiddy, the jigs in Haulbowline
Ricky Lynch singing in The Corner House he’s like a vintage wine
It’s the craic on Sherkin Island, the hake in Union Hall
The Turbot caught upon Cape Clear, you can ate the bones and all
Chorus
On the Banks the Banks the beautiful Banks
On the Banks of the River Lee
Saturday night we’re packed in tight
All together in The Big Marquee
Puccini’s in The Opera House, Karl Marx in The Connolly Hall
Joe Mac’s in The Arcadia, the Two Norries are on the ball
Maggie Barry’s on The Coal Quay, Jimmy Crowley on the ran-tan-tan
Sound as a bell, Hank Wedell and The Maestro, John Spillane
Here’s Caitríona Twomey comin’ up The Mall
To cook The Penny Dinner, to feed the great and small
There goes Don O’Leary on the road to Sunday’s Well
Up to the Cork Life Centre, to ring the morning bell
Chorus
I love The English Market, we all recall that scene
When a well known Cork Fishmonger met Her Majesty the Queen
He brought the Cockles and the Mussels, Caviar and Lobster Tail
The Periwinkle drove the poor auld queen completely off the rail
I took a wrong turn at Dunkettle, upon my soul
I went down the Jack Lynch Tunnel, woke up in The Metropole
All along MacCurtain St.’til I came to Patrick’s Hill
Big Noel said “Keep Comin Back” ahh begod I surely will
Chorus
O The Lonely Woods of Upton, The Boys of Fairhill
The Piper of Crossbarry I hear him still
I see The Blood and Bandage, when I hear The Rebel sing
I’m gonna kiss the Blarney Stone when the Bells of Shandon ring
Chorus
Michael Devine and I were heading to Cork to play in The Big Marquee. This event has been running for the past 18 years and I’m happy to say that I’ve played it every year bar one. The location is perfect. On the Banks of The River Lee, in a leafy Industrial Suburb within walking distance of the City Centre.
There is a magic about this gig. I thought to write a song about it. Apart from Karl Marx, Puccini, Joe Mac and Queen Elizabeth I’ve met all those mentioned in the song. I first sang it in Cork’s Opera House at a Concert to honour Don O’Leary.