The Merry Fairies of Kerry:

Deep in the heart of the forest they roam

A great circle of fairies and the occasional gnome

A dancin' and prancin' their eyes ever twinklin'

I'm thinkin' they may do a wee bit of drinkin'

Like sipping poteen from a magical stream

That's said to flow close to the village of Sneem.

These fairies stay merry in the Grand Ring of Kerry

Tis a wonderful home for tree roaming gnomes

Where the leprechauns leap over six, silly sheep

And the fairies do fly - I'm tellin' no lie

Now, I know what you're thinkin', yer sure I've been drinkin'

Alright, alright, it's probably true -

I may have been sipping a poteen or two.

Yet, despite what you think, I believe what I've seen

Is a common occurrence in the grand scheme of Sneem.

I was briefly in the village of Sneem late last September during a tour stop. My sister and I were travel companions, and when our tour coach drove thru Sneem we became very excited. You see, our maiden name is Burns, and we saw the name on a number of your local shops.

I popped into one shop to purchase postcards and inquired if there were many Burns' in town. The shopkeeper told me about your famous Irish storyteller Batt Burns.

I contacted Mr. Burns after I decided to write a grad school paper on traditional Irish storytelling and wrote a wee bit of poetry for another class. Mr. Burns called me last Winter, I read him my poem, asked if I should submit it. He seemed to enjoy it.

I'm on a quarter break from school (John F. Kennedy University in the San Francisco CA Bay Area) so I have some spare time. I'm hoping to return to Ireland, and especially Sneem, after I get my Master's degree in a couple of years time. I hope you like my effort at celebrating Sneem.