An Irish boy was leaving Leaving his old home Crossing the broad Atlantic Once more he wished to roam And as he was leaving his mother While standing on the quay She threw his arms around her waist And this to him did say A mother's love is a blessing No matter where you roam Keeper Wise, She's Living You'll miss her when she's gone Love her as in childhood When feeble, old and grey And you'll never miss a mother's love Till she's buried beneath the clay Just twenty years ago today, I grasped my mother's hand She kissed and blessed her only son, on to a far off land She grasped me to her love and breast, she knew I had to go She knew i had to go and l could hear her gentle voice the words were sweet and low Oh Goodbye, johnny dear, and when you're far away Don't forget your dear old mother far across the sea Write a letter now and then and do the best you can And don't forget where e'er you roam, that you're an Irishman By the side of a clear crystal fountain There stands a lonely churchyard closely by There's a tombstone decorated with prim-roses In the memory of a loved one passed away Shall I ne'er see a more gentle mother In the fields where the wild flowers grow I am sorry for the last I can't recover Neath yon willows lies my gentle mother's love