My Parish Has No Corned Beef In It by Áine


The Mudcat Forum	The Mudcat Resource Pages	The Mudcat Midi Page	The Digital Tradition Folk Song Server
Back to The Mudcat Songbook		Back to The Song Challenge Winners!
Anyone is welcome to perform these songs in public without royalties; however, if any of them are recorded or published for profit, the writers/composers expect the usual royalties.

St. Patrick's Day 2000 Special Song Challenge: Bob, Corned Beef and The Devil -- Dateline Boston, USA. Some Irish Catholics may have a beef with the church on St. Patrick's Day. This year, the holiday falls on a Friday in Lent, the period when Roman Catholics are encouraged to abstain from eating meat as an act of penance and a reminder of the sacrifices of Jesus. Many Catholic bishops, including Boston's and New York's, are giving dispensation to parishioners who want to partake of the traditional Irish-American meal of corned beef and cabbage. But some bishops are refusing to let their congregations off the hook, like Bishop Sean O'Malley of Fall River, Massachusetts, has not issued a dispensation. As a result, Catholics with a hankering for corned beef on March 17th may be heading to nearby Boston. But even without a dispensation, there is a possible out for those who don't want to ignore the rules but feel a craving for corned beef: They can travel to another diocese where the meal is deemed OK. "Corned beef and cabbage is a mainstay of our menu," says Jerry Burke, owner of Doyle's Cafe, an Irish pub in Boston's Jamaica Plains neighborhood, "And people are going to do it anyway." Mr. Burke expects to sell thousands of pounds of corned beef and cabbage this Friday. Also included in the no-no parishes are those in Rockville Centre, New York and Brooklyn, New York."

My Parish Has No Corned Beef In It by Áine
[Tune (and borrowed heavily from): My Husband's Got No Courage In Him, from the Silly Sisters album]

As I walked out one March morning
To view kegs of green beer a-springing
I saw two maidens standing by
And one of them their hands were wringing
Oh dear-o, oh dear-o,
My parish has no corned beef in it
Oh dear-o

All sorts of vittals I can provide
And the special meat that fits the day-o
But oysters raw and rhubarb pie
Is too far from the Irish way-o
Oh dear-o, oh dear-o,
My parish has no corned beef in it
Oh dear-o

My bishop can dance and caper and sing
Or do anything that is fitting for him
But he will not do the thing I want
Because he has no Irish in him
Oh dear-o, oh dear-o,
My parish has no corned beef in it
Oh dear-o

My boxty's admired wherever I go
And everyone loves my pratie cakes-o
I make soda bread and a well-shaped loaf
But I've never baked a decent fish-o
Oh dear-o, oh dear-o,
My parish has no corned beef in it
Oh dear-o

I reserved a seat upon the bus
That'll take us Pats to Boston tomorrow
But this morning I rose with my ticket lost
And no ATM is working, oh no!
Oh dear-o, oh dear-o,
My parish has no corned beef in it
Oh dear-o

Every night when I goes to bed
I dream of catfish in my jell-o
On Friday next I know my fate
I guess that I'll be going to Hell-o
Oh dear-o, oh dear-o,
My parish has no corned beef in it
Oh dear-o

I wish my bishop that he was 'green'
And loved his Paddy's corned beef cut trim
But I'll have to find another one
That's got a little Irish in him
Oh dear-o, oh dear-o,
My parish has no corned beef in it
Oh dear-o!