All the boys of Kilkenny are free and good lads,
And all their delight is in courting fair maids;
They kiss them, and court them, and spend their money free,
Of all the towns of Ireland, Kilkenny for me.
In the town of Kilkenny there runs a clear stream,
In the town of Kilkenny there lives a fine dame,
With her cheeks red as roses, and her lips much the same,
Like a bunch of fine strawberries so lovely they came.
Kilkenny is a pretty place, it shines as it stands,
The more I think of it the more my heart longs,
When I am at Kilkenny, there I am at home,
And there I have a sweetheart, but here I have none.
Now I'll build my love a castle on Kilkenny's free ground,
Where a duke nor a squire could not pull it down;
If any should ask you to know my name -
I'm an Irish excursion, from Kilkenny I came.