I wish I was in Carrickfergus
only for nights in Ballygrant
I would swim over the deepest ocean
only for nights in Ballygrant
but the sea is wide and I cannot swim over
nor have I the wings to fly
I wish I had me a handsome boatman
to ferry me over my love and I
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 the melting snow
so I'll spend my days an endless rover
soft is the grass, and sure my bed is free
oh to be back now in Carrickfergus
on that long road down to the sea
And in Kilkenny, it is reported
there are marble stones there 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 you young men and lay me down
