I wish I was in Carrickfergus
 Only for nights in Ballygrand
 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
 Neither have I wings to fly
 If I could find me a handsome boatsman
 To ferry me over to my love and die

 My childhood days bring back sad reflections
 Of happy times spent so long ago
 My childhood friends and my own relations
 Have all passed on now like melting snow

 But I'll spend my days in endless roaming
 Soft is the grass, my bed is free
 Ah, to be back now in Carrickfergus
 On that long road down to the sea

 I'll spend my days in endless roaming
 Soft is the grass, my bed is free
 But I am sick now, and my days are numbered [bad word] all you young men and lay me down