It seems like only yesterday   I sailed from out of cork   A wanderer from Erin's isle   I landed in New York      There wasn't a soul to greet me there   A stranger on your shore   But Irish luck was with me here   And riches came galore      And now that I'm going back again   To dear old Erin's isle   My friends will meet me on the pier   And greet me with a smile      Their faces, sure, I've almost forgot   I've been so long away   But me mother will introduce them all   And this to me will say      Shake hands with your uncle mike, me boy   And here is your sister, Kate   And there's the girl you used to swing   Down by the garden gate      Shake hands with all of the neighbors   And kiss the Colleens all   You're as welcome as the flowers in may   To dear old Donegal      They'll give a party when I go home   They'll come from near and far   They'll line the roads for miles and miles   With Irish jauntin' cars      The spirits will flow and we'll be gay   We'll fill your hearts with joy   The piper will play an Irish reel   To greet the Yankee boy      We'll dance and sing the whole night long   Such fun as never seen   The lads will be decked in corduroy   The Colleens wearin' green      There'll be thousands there that I never saw   I've been so long away   But me mother will introduce them all   And this to me will say      Shake hands with your uncle mike, me boy   And here is your sister, Kate   And there's the girl you used to swing   Down by the garden gate      Shake hands with all of the neighbors   And kiss the Colleens all   You're as welcome as the flowers in may   To dear old Donegal      Meet Branigan, Fannigan, Milligan, Gilligan   Duffy, McCuffy, Malachy, Mahone   Rafferty, Lafferty, Donnelly, Connelly   Dooley, O'Hooley, Muldowney, Malone      Madigan, Cadigan, Lanihan, Flanihan   Fagan, O'Hagan, O'Hoolihan, Flynn   Shanihan, Manihan, Fogarty, Hogarty   Kelly, O'Kelly, McGuinness, McGuinn