In Nineteen Hundred-Nine, from Donegal's shore 

I sailed to old New York town 

In the harbor Lady Liberty stands 

I don't believe I'll again see Dear Ould Ireland 

But the promise in these city streets is so grand 

And it's there I'd wed my dear, sweet lass 

A bricklayer's spade, my trade to be 

And she slaved at the Triangle Shirt Factory 

My God! - the dreadful conditions there 

They toiled through dim light and stifling air 

And gruelling hours the seamstress gave 

To the industrial captains for a trifling wage 



Though two years passed, we saw no change 

And I grieved for my love's dark misery 

Then word ran through the New York streets 

There's a fire at the Triangle Shirt Factory 

Twas only moments and the factory surrendered to flame 

And the fire escapes soon gave way 

In the windows huddled girls appeard 

Flames licked at their backs, their faces gripped with fear 

My God! - don't jump! came the firemen's roar 

Whose ladders failed to reach the top floors 

A last, shared glance and final embrace 

They leaped to their tragic and senseless fate 



Now I scream at the sky 

There's got to be a reason why 

Bewildered and grieved, I'm tangled and mired 

My love is gone - oh the Triangle Fire 

The world is so cold, desperate and dire 

I've lost everything in the Triangle Fire 



There was no reason, there was no rhyme, and now law 

To save us from this crime at all 

The owner's trial did reveal 

That the girls were locked in - the doors had all been sealed 

My God! - they've gone free! came our hopeless cry 

The bossed won with their lawyers and lies 

The Power and Greed again prevailed 

And we were left to our sorrow, to our despair 



I fear the future, I can envision the time 

When our cityscape will touch the sky 

Will men of Faith, of Wealth and Power 

Spare their people a fate like the Triangle Fire? 

My God! - forgive me! these men will cry 

In Their final hour as they lay dying 

And their victim's ghosts close in around 

God alone may forgive their indifference now