Sung by
Mr. Chauncey Olcott
in
The Heart of Paddy Wack
[opened in New York, 23 Nov 1914]
Dedicated to Rita Olcott
"A Little Bit of Heaven
Sure They Call It Ireland" (29 Jun 1914)
(How Ireland Got Its Name)
Words by J. Keirn Brennan (1873-1948)
Music by Ernest R. Ball (1878-1917)

Published by M. Witmark & Sons
  New York -  Chicaco - London
[Source: facsimile on pages 42-46 from
"The St. Louis Blues and Other Song Hits of 1914"
Edited by Sandy Marrone
(New York: Dover Pub., Inc., 1990)]

1. Have you ever heard the story of how Ireland got its name?
I’'ll tell you so you’ll understand from whence old Ireland came.
No wonder that we’re proud of that dear land across the sea,
For here’s the way me dear old mother told the tale to me.

[CHORUS sung after each VERSE]
Sure, a little bit of Heaven fell from out the sky one day,
And nestled on the ocean in a spot so far away;
And when the Angels found it,
Sure it looked so sweet and fair,
They said, Suppose we leave it, for it looks so peaceful there!
So they sprinkled it with star dust just to make the shamrock grow;
’Tis the only place you’ll find them, no matter where you go;
Then they dotted it with silver
To make its lakes so grand,
And when they had it finished, sure they called it Ireland.

2. ’Tis a dear old land of fairies and of wondrous wishing wells;
And no where else on God’s green earth have they such lakes and dells.
No woner that the Angel’s loved its Shamrock bordered shore,
’Tis a little bit of Heaven, and I love it more and more.