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Mooncoin
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Mooncoin is a village situated in the far south of county Kilkenny, in Ireland, just 10 km from Waterford City on the main Waterford to Limerick road. The village has continually received high scores in the Tidy Towns competition, and is said to have taken its name from a man by the name of Coin Walsh. The Irish translation of Mooncoin is 'Móin Coin', which means "the bog of Coin" or "Coin's bog".
Mooncoin has been made famous by the song 'The Rose of Mooncoin', which has been adopted as the Kilkenny GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) anthem. This is an apt acknowledgement of the village, as Mooncoin (along with Tullaroan) was one of the leading hurling teams in the country in the early years of the GAA.
The song was written in the 1800s by a local schoolteacher and poet named Watt Murphy, who met and gradually fell in love with a local woman called Elizabeth, also known as Molly. Elizabeth was just 20 years old, and Watt was then 56, but the difference in age was of no consequence to either of them. Both were intellectuals, and they would often stroll along the banks of the river Suir, composing and reciting poetry. However, Elizabeth's father, who was the local vicar, did not approve of their relationship, and she was sent away to England. Watt was brokenhearted at the loss of his beloved lady, and wrote this song in her memory.
"How sweet 'tis to roam by the sunny Suir stream,
And hear the dove's coo 'neath the morning's sunbeam.
Where the thrush and the robin their sweet notes combine
Flow on, lovely river, flow gently along.
By your waters so sweet sounds the lark's merry song.
On your green banks I'll wander where first I did join
With you, lovely Molly, the Rose of Mooncoin.
Oh Molly, dear Molly, has the time come at last,
When from you, dear Molly, from you I must part?
But I'll think of you, Molly, while the Summer sun shines
On the banks of the Suir that flows down by Mooncoin...
Whilst referred by some to be a small village, or a satellite town to Waterford, the continued growth in the population supports numerous business.