Irish Pub Song Contest Reveals 'We're All Irish for a Day'

Irish Pub Song Contest Reveals 'We're All Irish for a Day'

South Holland Entry Selected for Chicago Tribune's Lyrics Contest

CHICAGO, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Kevin McCarthy of South Holland, Ill., might describe himself as "one of the least-Irish Irishmen you'd ever meet," but that didn't keep him from winning the Chicago Tribune's first-ever Irish Pub Song Challenge in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Last month, the Chicago Tribune's Sunday Q section asked its readers to submit original lyrics that could play in any Dublin pub or South Side tavern. More than 175 entries were received from around Chicagoland and as far away as Dublin and Australia.

McCarthy's ditty, "We're All Irish for a Day," came out on top. He says he spent a mere 10 minutes penning the winning pub song in the "writer's garret" of his South Holland home. McCarthy's winning lyrics, along with a few other notable finalists, will be printed in the Sunday, March 12 edition of the Chicago Tribune.

"We received so many heartfelt, funny and even heartbreaking songs from our readers that it was difficult to choose just one winner," says assistant Q section editor Nancy Watkins. "But in the end, Kevin's entry stood out for its humor and clever references to Chicago."

As a prize, McCarthy's lyrics have been set to a traditional Irish tune and sung by famed Irish singer Whitey O'Day, who hails from Buffalo Grove, Ill., and performs at venues from rowdy bars to retirement centers. Audio and video from the recording of "We're All Irish for a Day" can be found online at http://chicagotribune.com/pubsong starting Sunday, March 12, 2006.

Chicago Tribune assistant Q section editor Nancy Watkins is available for media interviews -- in print and on-air -- to discuss the pub song challenge, the winning lyrics and the selection process. Contact Michael Dizon at 312-222-3165 to schedule an interview. Audio and video of O'Day's recording of "We're All Irish for a Day" is also available for use in TV and radio broadcasts.

The following are the winning lyrics -- as selected by the Q section staff, O'Day and Michael Austin, who teaches bodhran (Irish drum) at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and who is a member of the traditional Irish band Errigal.

"We're All Irish for a Day"
By Kevin McCarthy, South Holland

I've never kissed the Blarney Stone
But blarney's in my blood
Although my sainted mum tried hard
To nip it in the bud
I'll sing you honest stories
Of how life has made me wise
And then my wife can tell you
That they're all a pack of lies

To tell the truth the Guinness
Is too bitter on my tongue
But who'd drink with an Irishman
Who's sipping Coke and rum?
Don't tell the lads at Shannon's
I'd be shunned for blasphemy
I hate corned beef and cabbage
But I'm Irish as can be

Chorus:
So raise a pint of bitters
To the Orange and the Green
Or fill that cup of coffee
With some Baileys Irish Cream
The rocky road to Dublin's
Many thousand miles away
But here in old Chicago
We're all Irish for a day

I'm known for speaking Gaelic
When I've put a few away
I never had a lesson
Who knows Gaelic anyway?
I've never seen Killarney
But I've been to "Riverdance"
I'm off to see the Rovers
Every time I get the chance

Chorus

It's so good to be Irish
In the city by the lake
It's good to wear a shamrock
And to drink a Shamrock Shake
My friends will all forgive me
If my story's all a lie
They'll throw me a wild party
The day after I die!

Chicago Tribune Company publishes the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper with daily readership of nearly 2 million and nearly 3 million on Sunday. Together with other media businesses it operates -- including chicagotribune.com, RedEye, Hoy and Chicago Magazine -- Chicago Tribune Company reaches approximately 60 percent of adults in Chicagoland every week. Chicago Tribune is the founding publication of Tribune Company, one of the country's leading media companies with businesses in broadcasting, publishing and on the Internet.

Source: Chicago Tribune

CONTACT: Michael Dizon of Chicago Tribune, +1-312-222-3165

Web site: http://chicagotribune.com/
http://chicagotribune.com/pubsong

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