I’m in love with a charming young colleen, the fairest young lady on earth,
A gem of the very first waters, and I'm proud that she's Irish by birth.
I met her among the green bowers, I kissed her and liked it so well,
She blushed like the fairest of flowers, that grow on mossy green dells.

Chorus:
Kathleen, so fair and bright; star of eve and dark of night;
Through shady lawns and meadows green, I long to roam with you Kathleen.

Her parents they boast not of riches, they've a neat little farm of their own.
Where her father he digs his own praties, and they live in the County Tyrone.
For miles round my Kathleen are famous good looks, and good nature serene:
But among them she is always acknowledged - the fairest young colleen e'er seen.

Chorus:
Kathleen, so fair and bright; star of eve and dark of night;
Through shady lawns and meadows green, I long to roam with you Kathleen.

And we’re going to be married next Sunday, and the old folks will give us away,
All the bells in the church will be ringing, and the boys and the girls will be gay.
As true as the stars are above us, to my Kathleen I’ll always be true;
And when from the church we are leaving, the boys and the girls shout harroo!

Chorus:
Kathleen, so fair and bright; star of eve and dark of night;
Through shady lawns and meadows green, I long to roam with you Kathleen.

"This was written, composed and sung by Helene Mora in 1894."
Jim Carroll