The Hills of Connemara

"The Hills of Connemara" is an Irish folk song written by Sean McCarthy about Irish moonshine, or Poitín, set in Connemara. In the song, the drink is referred to as "mountain tea" (tay to rhyme with day, which is a common pronunciation in this region derived from the Gaelic term for tea, 'tae'.). The punch line to the song is that the tax collectors ("excise men") find the cache of moonshine and begin "drinkin' it straight".

Recordings

• Four to the Bar on their live album Craic on the Road.
• Gaelic Storm on their self-titled album. Their rendition was also used in the dance scene in James Cameron's Titanic.
• Tom Donovan on the Irish Compilation Album A Taste of Ireland: Pub Songs
• Shilelagh Law on their album "1 & 9"
• The Bard of Cornwall on their Myspace.
• Gallowglass on their Myspace & various live recordings.
• The Irish Rovers on their 1971 album On the Shores of Americay, the song title styled as "Mountain Tay (The Hills of Connemara)".
• Foster & Allen on their album "Foster & Allen's Ireland".
• The Dublin Legends on their album "The Dublin Sessions, vol. 2".
• Men of Worth on their album "Great Songs of Scotland & Ireland".