Carrickfergus

I wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over the deepest ocean
Only for nights in Ballygrand

But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
I wish I had a handsome boatman
To ferry me over, my love and I

My childhood days bring back sad reflections
Of happy times we spent so long ago

My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all past on now like the melting snow

And I'd spend my days in ceaseless roving
Soft is the grass and my bed is free

Oh, to be back now in Carrickfergus
On that long winding road down to the sea

Now in Kilkenny it is reported
On marble stones there as black as ink
With gold and silver I would support her
But I'll sing no more now 'til I get a drink

'Cause 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
Come all me young men and lay me down