The Rose of Mooncoin

"The Rose of Mooncoin" is one of the most famous Irish ballads. It was written in the 1800s in Mooncoin by a local schoolteacher and poet named Watt Murphy, who met and gradually fell in love with a local woman called Elizabeth, also known as Molly. Elizabeth was just 20 years old, and Watt was then 56, but the difference in age was of no consequence to either of them. Both were intellectuals, and they would often stroll along the banks of the river Suir, composing and reciting poetry. However, Elizabeth's father, who was the local vicar, did not approve of their relationship, and she was sent away to England. Watt was brokenhearted at the loss of his beloved lady, and wrote this song in her memory.

"How sweet 'tis to roam by the sunny Suir stream,And hear the dove's coo 'neath the morning's sunbeam.Where the thrush and the robin their sweet notes combine

On the banks of the Suir that flows down by Mooncoin. Flow on, lovely river, flow gently along.By your waters so sweet sounds the lark's merry song.On your green banks I'll wander where first I did joinWith you, lovely Molly, the Rose of Mooncoin.

Oh Molly, dear Molly, has the time come at last,When from you, dear Molly, from you I must part?But I'll think of you, Molly, while the Summer sun shinesOn the banks of the Suir that flows down by Mooncoin

The ballad has been adopted as the Kilkenny GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) anthem. This is an apt acknowledgement of the village, as Mooncoin (along with Tullaroan) was one of the leading hurling teams in the country in the early years of the GAA.