The Rare Ould Times

"The Rare Ould Times" is a song composed by Pete St. John in the 1970s for the Dublin City Ramblers.

In the song, the narrator, Sean Dempsey, who comes from Pimlico, a working-class neighbourhood in the Dublin Liberties, recalls his upbringing.

The song was first recorded by the Dublin City Ramblers,[1] who released it as a single in 1977.

It has since been recorded by dozens of artists such as The Dubliners, the Irish Tenors, Paddy Reilly, The High Kings, Flogging Molly, Nathan Carter, Damien Dempsey and Kodaline.

Irish businessman Bill Cullen used the first two stanzas of the song as the epigraph for his 2004 memoir of growing up in inner-city Dublin, It's a Long Way from Penny Apples.