Killeen

There's a town in Texas that they call Killeen
Named after me, Francis Patrick Killeen,
Well, after my namesake anyway
Who sought a better life in Amerikay.

Hey folks, I must warn ya
I'll be off to California,
Where, instead of digging praties,
I'll be digging lumps of gold.

The year, it was Eighteen Five O;
The hunger was great: he had to go.
With his brother, John, he left the bog
To find a new life over in New York.

Frank and John sailed to New York.
John went west to dig for gold,
But Frank took the first job that came along,
And went to work on the railroad.

He had no schooling and he had no wealth;
He spoke with a red-neck bog accent;
But the railroad company took him on,
So Francis Killeen now had a job.

Paddy on the railroad breaking stones:
Along came an engine and broke Paddy's bones.
Ah, said Paddy, that's not fair.
Ah, said the engine, I don't care.

But Francis Killeen rose through the ranks,
And mastered the art of laying tracks.
It was he that brought the railroad down
All the way to Galveston.

O they came along to Galveston
With a great steam engine,
Puffing and hooting and belching steam,
Attracting great attention.

They stopped for a rest beside a stream;
And they called this resting place Killeen.
And now it's a city as fine as any,
And the folk who live there are quite many.

There's a town in Texas they call Killeen
Named after me.

 

 Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killeen,_Texas&oldid=1005376062

Killeen's of Claremorris:

Krunchie Killeen's Ireland: Killeens of Claremorris (krunchiesireland.blogspot.com)

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