When the schools got out for summer I got started
On the long awaited journey to the west.
I was feeling so excited and light hearted
I was heading for the place that I loved best.

And the bus said "Sligo" on the destination
On down through Barnsmore Gap and Billintra,
Then you got another bus at Sligo station
And the Freestate writing spelt out Ballina.

At Enniscrone the broad Atlantic
Meant that you hadn't far to go
And when you saw the top of Nephin
You knew you'd landed in Mayo,
God bless Mayo

Friendly hands to take you hand and say he's bigger
Hefty arms to hoist you high and hug you hard.
Take the road through Crossmolina to the river
And the sideroad takes you back to Garranard.

And I knew every windy corner
Of the little fields below
And every ripple of that river
Cross the stepping stones I'd go,
There in Mayo.

When the day came to go back my heart was bleeding
With a grief that seems relentless when you're small,
They say every child should have his share of Eden
But a city child needs Eden most of all.

Back to the darkening streets of Derry
Broken hearted I must go,
Far from the splendour and the silence
And the wonder of Mayo,
Farewell Mayo.