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 
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 is 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 [bad word] today and I'm seldom sober, 
handsome rover from town to town
Ah, but I'm sick now, my days are numbered  [bad word] all ye young men and lay me down