Girls of Dublin City

Top row is for tremolo players, bottom row is for diatonic players, numbers in parenthesis are slurred together

6  6  6   6    (-67)  -7 -7  -7 -7 -8  8
5  5  5   5    (-56)  -6 -6  -6 -6 -7  7
As I went out through Dublin ci-ty at the
 -9  -8  8    -7  -6   6   6   6     6
 -8  -7  7    -6  -5   5   5   5     5
Hour of twelve o clock of the night. Who
  6    6  6  7   7 -7  -7 (-7-8) 8  -9 -9
  5    5  5  6   6 -6  -6 (-6-7) 7  -8 -8
Should I see but a Spanish la - dy washing
-8   8   -7 -6 6    6      8     9    9
-7   7   -6 -5 5    5      7     8    8
Her feet by candle light.  First she washed
 8    8   -8  -7   -7    -8   8 8  8  9 
 7    7   -7  -6   -6    -7   7 7  7  8
Them and then she dried them, over a fire
8  -8  -7  -8    6  8   8   9   8 -8 -8
7  -7  -6  -7    5  7   7   8   7 -7 -7
Of amb’ry coals. In all my life I never 
-7  -7 (-88) -9  -8  8    -7 -6  6    6
-6  -6 (-87) -8  -7  7    -6 -5  5    5
Did see a   maid so sweet a-bout the soles
6      6   6    6 -6  -7 -7(-7-8) 8
5      5   5    5 -5  -6 -6(-6-7) 7
Whack fol the toor-a-loor-a lad - dy
-9    -8  -8   8  -7  -6  6  6
-8    -7  -7   7  -6  -5  5  5
Whack fol the toor-a-loor-a lay
6      6   6    6 -6  -7 -7(-7-8) 8
5      5   5    5 -5  -6 -6(-6-7) 7
Whack fol the toor-a-loor-a lad - dy
-9    -8  -8   8  -7  -6  6  6
-8    -7  -7   7  -6  -5  5  5
Whack fol the toor-a-loor-a lay


Pause for a while my friends and listen to what I’m going to tell to you about the events in Dublin City and the girls of the IDATU Dunne’s stores branch in Henry street was where the trouble first began that led to the strike, the famous strike, of ten young women and one young man

At the union conference that year they said “we will not compromise with Apartheid” and they voted to boycott all South African merchandise they said “we’ll stick by resolution” ten young women and one young man.

Mary Manning, from Kilmainham, a twenty one year old cashier was put to the test the very next morning and she spoke up loud and clear “no I’m afraid, I cannot serve you, them grapefruit’s South African and some of us here are opposed to apartheid” ten young women and one young man

There was a hell of a hullaballoo, with moans and shouts and angry cries the bosses foaming at the mouth and the suits running round like blue-arsed flies “you’ll sell that fruit or be suspended, we’ll tolerate no union ban” little did they understand the will of ten young women and one young man

Mary Manning got the push, that girl of independent mind and ten of her workmates went with her and joined her on the picket line for days and weeks and months they stood there, held their nerve and kept the ban showing the will and determination of ten young women and one young man

So here’s to the girls of Dublin City who stretched their hands across the sea and gave the world a perfect lesson in worker solidarity here’s to the folk that heed the boycott, won’t buy Cape and spurn outspan
Ten young women and one young man!