C As I rode down to Galway town to seek for recreation Am G C On the seventeenth of August me mind being elevated Am G Am Em There were multitudes assembled with their tickets at the station C Am G Am Me eyes began to dazzle and I'm goin' to see the races [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye [Verse 2] C There were passengers from Limerick and passengers from Nenagh Am G C And passengers from Dublin and sportsmen from Tipperary Am G Am Em There were passengers from Kerry, and all quarters of our nation C Am G Am And our member, Peter Brennan, for to join the Galway Blazers [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye [Verse 3] C There were multitudes from Aran, and members from New Quay Shore Am G C Boys from Connemara and the Claire unmarried maidens Am G Am Em There were people from Cork city who were loyal, true and faithful; C Am G Am Who brought home the Fenian prisoners from diverse foreign nations [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye [Verse 4] C It's there you'll see confectioners with sugarsticks and dainties Am G C The lozenges and oranges, the lemonade and raisins! Am G Am Em The gingerbread and spices to accomodate the ladies C Am G Am And a big crubeen for thruppence to be pickin' while you're able [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye [Verse 4] C It's there you'll see the gamblers, the thimbles and the garters Am G C And the spotting Wheel of Fortune with the four and twenty quarters Am G Am Em There was others without scruple pelting wattles at poor Maggy C Am G Am And her father well-contented and he lookin' at his daughter [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye [Verse 5] C It's there you'll see the pipers and the fiddlers competing Am G C The nimble footed dancers a-tripping over the daisies Am G Am Em There were others crying cigars and lights and bills for all the races C Am G Am With the colors of the jockeys and the prize and horses' ages [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye [Verse 6] C It's there you'll see the jockeys and they're mounted out so stately Am G C The pink, the blue, the orange, and green, the emblem of our nation Am G Am Em When the bell was rung for starting, all the horses seemed impatient C Am G Am I thought they never stood on ground their speed was so amazing [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye [Verse 7] C There was half a million people there from all denominations Am G C The Catholic, the Protestant, the Jew, and Presbyterian Am G Am Em There was yet no animosity, no matter what persuasion C Am G Am But "failte" hospitality inducin' fresh acquaintance [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye [Chorus] C G Am With your whack-fa-la-do-for-the-diddle-ee-idle-eye