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 cross over
And neither have I the wings to fly
I wish i could meet a handsome boatsman
To ferry me over, my love to find.

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

And I spend my days in endless roaming
Soft is the grass my bed is free
Oh to be home now in Carrickfergus
On that old long road down to the sea.

But 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 'till I get a drink.

For 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 [bad word] all you young men and lay me down.