26. The Road to Dunmore

© Robbie O’Connell 1987 Slievenamon Music (BMI)

In these days of instant worldwide communication, it’s easy to forget just how difficult and expensive it was to maintain a long distance relationship before the arrival of the internet. A fifteen minute transatlantic phone call could cost as much as a fancy dinner in a fine restaurant. Accumulating enough 50 pence coins for an unhurried call in the public phone kiosk could take a week or more. In addition, arranging a suitable time to talk was an onerous and precarious task and it didn’t always succeed.

Letters were the only affordable means of communication for penniless students like me but there were issues with that too. Letters can get delayed, or cross in the mail, leading to misunderstandings and puzzlement. The arrival of an anticipated love letter could make your day if it said what you hoped for, or ruin it if it didn’t. My college roommate, Donagh Morgan, would sometimes pretend that no mail had arrived for me just so he could see the look on my face when he finally produced the letter. For some people though, like the character in this song, the letters or phone calls never came. It must be a fairly common occurrence as we now have the word “ghosting” to describe that kind of rejection. So I suppose that makes The Road to Dunmore a “ghosting” song.

It first appeared in 1984 on the album Uncommon Bonds by Mick Moloney and Eugene O’Donnell. I recorded it on my Love of the Land album for Green Linnet Records in 1989. Eight years later I did another recording of it with Liam and Donal Clancy on our first Clancy, O’Connell and Clancy CD. Liam had taken a liking to the song after hearing me sing it in Harney’s pub in Dunhill, County Waterford on a very memorable November day in 1996 and insisted we include in on the CD we were then recording. The previous night, Liam, Martin Murray and I had played at the after party of the Waterford premiere of the film Michael Collins. It turned into a session that continued into the wee hours of the morning and next afternoon we were taking the slow road back to Ring when we had a little adventure. I wrote the story of that outing, called The Stampede, as one of my contributions to the anthology, Clean Cabbage in the Bucket: And Other Tales from the Irish Music Trenches, published in 2007. This recording is from the Clancy, O’Connell & Clancy CD released in 1997.¹

Lyrics:

THE ROAD TO DUNMORE

© Robbie O’Connell 1987 Slievenamon Music (BMI)

I was walking the road to Dunmore one evening as often I've done,
And my heart was as heavy as stone I was thinking of times that are gone,
When we walked arm in arm on the shore and we watched the waves roll on the sea
Never thinking that there'd come a time they'd be rolling between you and me. 

It's many's the tide now has turned since I stood all alone on the quay
And I watched as you waved your farewell and you left a heart breaking in me;
But if I were a prince or a king and had money and treasure in store,
I'd travel the whole world wide and not rest 'til I'd found you once more. 

It's many's the morning I'd wait for the letters you promised to send
And I counted the hours of each day ‘til we'd both be united again
They say that in time love grows cold and it fades like the morning dew
But time will not alter my mind for I know that I can't forget you. 

I have money enough for one glass but maybe my credit will hold
For in memories I'm rich as a king though they can't warm a heart when it's cold
So I'll drink to the times that are past and the days when we walked on the shore
And to you I will raise up my glass for I know that I'll ne'er see you more.

1. Production Information:
Robbie O’Connell—Vocal and guitar
Liam Clancy—Concertina
Dónal Clancy—Guitar
Conor Power—Keyboards
James Blennerhassett—Bass and cello
Recorded and mixed at Ring Recording Studio, Ring, Co. Waterford, Ireland
Engineers: Bruno Staehelin, Martin Murray and Dónal Clancy
Produced by Liam Clancy, Robbie O’Connell and Dónal Clancy
Mastered by Gerry Putnam at Cedar House Studio, New London, NH