John Spillane - River Lee Lyrics

You'd wanna be mad to go swimming in the river
But this summer I've been swimming in the river
In the sacred waters of the River Lee, and I have been washed clean
And I have been set free

I have dived into the Hell-hole
Underneath the sycamore tree
And I have come back to tell the tale
That I have swam in the sacred waters of the River Lee
And that I have been washed clean
And I have been set free
And I don't need no church made out of stone

I have swam with the ghosts in Inniscara graveyard
And I have emerged once again, totally unharmed
Unscathed, a few gray hairs alright like
But I have bathed in the Sacred Holy waters of the River Lee
And I have been washed clean, and I have been set free

I have dived into the lake in Gúgán Barra
And swam with the monster; the she-serpent Lugh
Who whipped the Holy Chalice out of the saint's hand long 'go
The Luneen! She broke through the rock and she formed the River Lee
I have swam with the monster in Gúgán Barra Lake and I have emerged unscathed
I have come back to tell the tale; that I have bathed in the Sacred
Holy waters of the River Lee
And that I have been washed clean, and I have been set free
And I don't need no Church made of stone

I have gone out the Lee Fields, beyond the dinosaur
To the old men who go there every day
And they says to me Johnny boy! they says
Come with us! We walks up and we floats down!
And they does, they does, but I says
Lads I'm not going with yee! Gimme another ten or fifteen years
But as I breathe, if I live to tell the tale, I hope to go out and be
One of them old men who goes there everyday
They walks up and they floats down! And they does

Because I have bathed in the sacred holy waters of the River Lee
And I have been washed clean, and I have been set free
And I don't need no church made out of stone
And I don't need no cult of priests from Rome

I would like to mention some of the beautiful rivers
That pour their tribute into the River Lee
The Owengarbh, The Shournagh, The Martin
The Dripsey, The Sullán, the only male river in Ireland
That claims a victim every seven years
"Is mise an Sulán fada, fireann. Anois an t-am, cá bhfuil an duine
Because I have bathed in the sacred waters of the River Lee
And I have been washed clean, and I have been set free