Lyrics

CHILDREN OF KILLEEN
Gary O’Driscoll © 2026
CHAPEAU ROUGE MUSIC (SOCAN)


[Verse 1]
A cold wind sighs in Ireland, across the barren green,
A mother weeps in silence, alone and unseen.
No church bells toll, no prayers are said, no priest is to be seen,
Another little soul is lost, the children of Killeen.

[Verse 2]
How many were abandoned, no one will ever know
Their tiny bodies buried, buried down below
Behind the convent’s shadowed walls, where mercy should have been,
They laid them in the lonely earth, the children of Killeen.

[Chorus]
Oh, children of Killeen, sleep softly now tonight,
Buried in the darkness, forever out of sight
Though years have kept your memory, silent and unseen,
Ireland will remember, the children of Killeen.

[Musical bridge]

[Verse 3]
History sifts through dust, to bring the truth to light,
And voices long forgotten, rise in the endless night.
And mothers and their babies call, from the void between,
Solemn affirmation, for the children of Killeen.

[Verse 4]
The lark still sings above the fields, where morning meets the sky,
Every child deserves a name, a grave - a last goodbye.
Though tears may fall like Irish rain, much sorrow has been seen,
Forever we’ll remember, the children of Killeen.

[Chorus]
Oh, children of Killeen, sleep softly now tonight,
Buried in the darkness, forever out of sight
Though years have kept your memory, silent and unseen,
Ireland will remember, the children of Killeen

[Outro]
Yes, Ireland will remember, the children of Killeen