Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears

This is a song about Ellis Island and Irish immigrants who saught a new life in America.
This song was featured at An Cór Ceilteach's 2003 November concert. Sue Lemme, Kris Colt, and Ray Doyle sang the verses and the rest of the choir sang the choruses.
How does the tune go? It can be found on the CD of the concert which is available to choir members for practice purposes.

[1]
On the first day of January
Eighteen Ninety-two
They Opened Ellis Island
And they let the people through.
And the first to cross the threshold
Of the Isle of hope and tears
Was Annie Moore from Ireland
Who was all of fifteen years.

[CHORUS]
Isle of hope, Isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, Isle of fears,
But it's not the Isle
I left behind...
That Isle of hunger, Isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again
But the Isle of home
Is always on your mind.

[2]
In her little bag she carried
All her past and history
And her dreams for the future
In the land of liberty.
And courage is the passport
When your old world disappears
’Cause there's no future in the past
When you're fifteen years.

CHORUS


[3]
When they closed down Ellis Island
In Nineteen Forty-three
Seventeen million people
Had come there for sanctu’ry.
And in springtime when I came here
And stepped onto its piers,
I thought of how it must have been
When you're only fifteen years.

CHORUS

But the Isle of Home
is always on your mind.

The display of these songs on this site is only meant as a means for the Celtic Arts Center Choir to distribute songs to its members.
This is not intended for wider publication or larger distribution.
Updated on Fri, Sep 17, 2004
© 2004 TechnoCelt Productions in association with The Celtic Arts Center / An Claidheamh Soluis. All rights reserved.