Songwriter: Damien Dempsey

Factories, trains and houses
Playground of my youth
The place that left me mute
I threw back my shoulders

Factories, trains and houses
The place that makes some strong
And hurries you along
Some grow old very quick there

No star ever played the cellar bar
Glass and bottle fights
We saw some crazy nights
But then fights do excite you

I'm awoken by a...
Handbrake turn outside
I knew lads who died
That sound chills me inside still

Howth Junction could take you away
And in the hay fields we'd squander the day
And from the corner of Holywell road
See the sunset over Saint Donaghs
See the sunset over us all
See the sunset over Saint Donaghs

Some boys want to get me
Because I hit one back
I still can here the crack
Of his head on the concrete

Doin' drugs and drinking
Makes you so depressed
And then you think you're blessed
When you're dropping a tablet

Troubled years and fighting
Makes you sad you know
And Mammy had to go
Sure it's best in the long run
Howth Junction could take you away
And in the hay fields we'd squander the day

And from the corner of Holywell road
See the sunset over Saint Donaghs
See the sunset over us all
See the sunset over Saint Donaghs
See the sunset over the world

Sinéad O’Connor

Sinéad O'Connor (who goes by Shuhada' Sadaqat in her private life) is an Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the late 80s with her album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success with her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares to You” in 1990.

O'Connor was discovered in 1985 when Nigel Grainge of Ensign Records saw her band Ton Ton Macoute perform. Although he was not fond of the band’s music, he was impressed by O'Connor’s ‘amazing voice’. Grainge had O'Connor record four songs with Karl Wallinger (World Party) and signed her to his label. O'Connor’s first single was the song “Heroine” which she co-wrote with U2’s guitarist The Edge for the film Captive.

Her debut album The Lion and the Cobra was a sensation when it was released in 1987, reaching gold record status and earning a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy nomination. O'Connor’s debut single “Troy” charted in The Netherlands and Belgium, and “Mandinka”, released in late 1987, cracked the top 20 in the UK and top 30 in three other European countries, helping her album chart well in Europe. Spin Magazine described the album as a “remarkable, still-spine-tingling first record”.