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