Near Banbridge town in the County Down 
 One morning last July 
 From a boreen green came a sweet colleen 
 And she smiled as she passed me by 
 She looked so sweet from her two bare feet 
 To the sheen of her nut brown hair 
 Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself 
 For to see I was really there 
    From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay 
 And from Galway to Dublin town 
 No maid I've seen like the fair Colleen 
 That I met in the County Down   
 As she onward sped sure I scratched my head 
 And I looked with a feeling rare 
 And I said, says I, to a passerby 
 "Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?" 
 He smiled at me and he says, says he 
 "That's the gem of Ireland's crown 
 Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann 
 She's the star of the County Down"   
 From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay 
 And from Galway to Dublin town 
 No maid I've seen like the fair Colleen 
 That I met in the County Down   
 At the harvest fair she'll be surely there 
 And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes 
 With my shoes shone bright and my hat cocked right 
 For a smile from the nut-brown rose 
 No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke 
 To my plough rust coloured brown 
 Till a smiling bride by my own fireside 
 Sits the star of the County Down   
 From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay 
 And from Galway to Dublin town 
 No maid I've seen like the fair Colleen 
 That I met in the County Down   
 From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay 
 And from Galway to Dublin town 
 No maid I've seen like the fair Colleen 
 That I met in the County Down