I Wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygran
I would swim over the deepest ocean
The deepest ocean for my love to find
But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over
And neither have I wings to fly
If I could find me a handsome boatman
To ferry me over to my love and die
My childhood days bring back sad reflections
Of happy times I spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all passed on now like melting snow
But I'll spend my days in endless roaming
Soft sit the grass my bed is free
Ah, to be back in Carrickfergus
On that long road down to the sea
And in Kilkenny it is reported
There are marble stones as black as ink
With gold and silver I would support her
But I'll sing no more now till I get a drink
I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Ah, but I'm sick now, my days are numbered
So come all, ye young men and lay me down