Having received an e-mail yesterday officially welcoming me to Notre Dame Law School (they received my deposit check and enrollment form on Wednesday), the self-descriptive phrase “Irish Trojan” occurred to me at some point this afternoon. Catchy, eh?

Naturally, since everything always goes back to Ireland — and more specifically, to the Clancy Brothers — this passing thought inspired me to write an entire song: a knock-off of The Irish Rover. It is entitled, of course, The Irish Trojan.

I present it here, in its entirety, knowing full well that my dad is probably the only reader who will fully appreciate it (though Sean may remember some of the tune from when I used to sing The Irish Rover on the playground in third grade). Now then, I don’t want no grief about how the rhymes with “Trojan” are imperfect. Nothing rhymes with Trojan. :) I did my best. The scansion is also suspect in spots, and there is one place where “Dame” is rhymed with “dame,” always a no-no. But what can I say? I rather like it anyway.

The Irish Trojan
by Brendan Loy

In the year of our lord
Twenty hundred and two
Brendan’s life’s road arrived at a fork
Which career path to take?
Which profession to choose?
For the erstwhile journalism dork
Going to grad school seemed daft
But he tired of his craft
His inspiration frozen
So to much shock and awe
He decided on law
Now they call him the Irish Trojan

Seven big-city law schools
Back east, close to home,
Were the ones whose admissions he sought
But he also applied
To a Midwestern school
‘Twas a virtual afterthought
For Rebecca, his dame
Sought out Notre Dame
To join their history program
Brendan thus followed suit
Though he planned no such route
Nor to be called the Irish Trojan

When the offers came in
And the rejections, too
Brendan’s options were narrowed to four
UConn, BU, Cardozo and old Notre Dame
Were the choices he had to explore
Cardozo was free
No tuition or fees
Their offer made them golden
Few indeed could foresee
That a day there would be
When they’d call him the Irish Trojan

The scales started to tip
On a fateful road trip
With fair Becky in May of ‘03
They decided to spend
A few hours in South Bend
Took the tour — after all, it was free
Around campus they walked
And oh! What a shock!
It seemed the fates had chosen
For he loved every inch
Now the choice seemed a cinch
Soon they’d call him the Irish Trojan

Brendan’s not in the habit
Of closing the book
On his options when they’re still alive
So he dragged out his choice
And considered it well
Though his friends for finality strived
But a trip to the sticks
And two football tix
Convinced him to quit rovin’
Now he’s finally enrolled–
Hail green, cardinal and gold–
And they call him the Irish Trojan!

Hehehe.

Hmm. That second-to-last line makes me think of a possible follow-up song… “It is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen! His undergrad was cardinal, but his law school, it was green…” :)

On a more serious note, the first day of school at ND is Aug. 23. Expect a countdown to appear on this site fairly shortly — and also expect that word “probably” to be removed from my self-description at left.

President Bush is set to announce an initiative to go back to the Moon, and go to Mars. (I wonder if he will also demand that we “do the other things.”) His target dates are rather far off into the future, but hey, this is better than nothing.