Meaning
The lyrics are about a party thrown by a hard working young man, Jeremy Lanigan, who has inherited a "farm and ten acres of ground" on the death of his father. The events occur in Athy, Co. Kildare, Ireland. Jeremy decides to have the party for friends and relations who supported and helped him out when he didn't have any resources: "friends and relations Who didn't forget him when come to the wall".
The lyrics of the song describe the people who attended the party and the food and drink that was available. In the chorus of the song, the narrator describes his time spent at "Brooks Academy" in Dublin learning to dance in preparation for the ball:
- Three long weeks I spent up in Dublin,
- Three long weeks to learn nothing at all,
- Three long weeks I spent up in Dublin,
- Learning new steps for Lanigan's Ball.
and
- She stepped out and I stepped in again,
- I stepped out and she stepped in again,
- She stepped out and I stepped in again,
- Learning new steps for Lanigan's Ball.
Later on in the evening, in one version "Miss Kerrigan" fainted and her "sweetheart Ned Morgan" got upset and started a fight. In another popular version, "young Terence McCarthy, He put his right leg through Miss Finerty's hoops" and that started the fight. The narrator says that he "got a lick from big Phelim McHugh". This fight, described in the song as "ructions", "put an end to Lanigan's Ball".
Read more about this topic: Lanigan's Ball
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