Lyrics

In Newgate’s gloomy prison they dug a narrow grave
And in it sleeps O’Donnell the bravest of the brave
And from this world he drove a monster that’s numbered with the damned
This beast and brutal Carey disgraced our native land.

He was the organiser and mysterious number one
He planned the Dublin murders he led the bloody van
For worldly greed he done the deed his country men he sold
Like Judas in the scriptures for the saxon master’s  gold
For worldly greed he done the deed his country men he sold
And he sent them to their dreadful doom for a piece of English gold.

O’Donnell left his native home when he was very young
To seek an honest living in the lands of Washington
He bade farewell to all his friends he prayed he soon would see
The Saxon driven from Lough Foyle and the green flag waving free.

As he lived beneath the Stars and Stripes prosperity on him shone
Till at length he thought he would go back to see his dear old home
He was shaded by detectives as he bid his friends good-bye
Then he started off to Africa his fortune for to try.

On board the Melrose Castle from England she set sail
She was a British steam ship she carried the Capetown mail
Among the cabin passengers he met an Irishman
All with his wife and family bound for a distant land.

They shook hands and made acquaintance in the real old Irish style
The informer looked suspicious in vain he tried to smile
He seemed to be in trouble or something on his mind
But O’Donnell knew he mourned the loss of those he left behind.

Then a thought struck O’Donnell that Power was the man
And face to face on the Melrose the both of them did stand
He rushed up to O’Donnell he swore he would have his life
But a bullet pierced his treacherous heart in the presence of his wife.

They found O’Donnell guilty in the very first degree
I only stood my own defence against the brute at sea
Which brings his wife and family to sorrow grief and shame
They live in fear and dread to hear their cowardly father’s name.

see also   Pat O'Donnell / Dan McGonigle   Pat O'Donnell / Maggie McGee   Pat O' Donnell / James Barron   Patrick O' Donnell / Pat Mulhern