The Pass of Keimaneigh
T’was early in September in the year of ’53
When I received an order to take a 10 RB
To proceed westwards with all speed and not make
delay
To help to cut the tourist road through the pass
of Keimaneigh
My heart was not rejoicing as I journeyed to the
west
For I was leaving my friends that I had loved
the best
So I helped to drown my sorrows at each pub I
passed that day
Till I reached my destination at the foot of
Keimaneigh
The sun was sinking o’er Gougane when I reached
my journey’s end
T’was there I met Dan Kearney who soon became my
friend
He was famous for his Irish songs, he danced and
he was gay
And he made a brew called Mountain Dew at the
pass of Keimaneigh
Ere dusk had fallen o’er the pass where deep the
shadows lurk
The boys has placed me in the care of the
charming Sheila Burke
And since I stepped into that home and drank a
cup of tay
My every wish was granted by the Burkes of
Keimaneigh
T’was there I met Dan Connell, a sailor he had
been
He changed his mind now sits behind a
And with him Jimmy Murphy they could work as
well as play
As they tipped their loads to make the road
through the pass of Keimaneigh
Now the work is proceeding and the road is
taking shape
From Toureen Dubh in sweeping curves to the Post
Office gate
Now Katie’s rock is gone for it was blown away
To make a fine straight road through the pass of
Keimaneigh
There stands Paddy Dolan as cool as any breeze
Directing operations with competence and ease
For it takes a man that knows his job to make
the tourists say
There’s the finest road in
All credit too is surely due to the compressor
team
And to Tanner bold the rocks he blew like flying
autumn leaves
While Mahony Thade with his Bamford babe gently
rolls away
Another stretch on the Bantry side of the road
through Keimaneigh
Now Daly’s men are down the glen in a place
called Cappaboy
While Dick Mikey thrills as his blast shrills
through the crags above on high
And Timmy Crane sings a sweet refrain as he
starts to clear away
Another stretch on the Bantry side of the road
through Keimaneigh
One evening in October as the mist was falling
low
A mighty landslide hit the site and completely
blocked the road
T’was Healy’s timely warning that saved his gang
of men
From being buried neath the avalanche in that
wild and rugged glen
And when all was peaceful and settled in that
scene
There in the midst of all the wreck stood Dan
the Bull serene
They say it was a miracle how he escaped that
day
When the rocks piled up around him in the pass
of Keimaneigh
When the summer sun is shining and the tourist
cars they glide
Where once the there leapt the noble deer up on
Duachaill side
Oh the people gaze in rapture at the work that
carved the way
Between Gougane Cross and Calvary through the
pass of Keimaneigh
So now to bring a finish to my simple little
song
For to mention everybody it would really be too
long
But where e’er I go I always know at home or far
away
I won’t forget the men who built the road
through Keimaneigh