I wish I was in Carrickfergus

Only for nights in Ballygrand

I would swim over the deepest ocean

Only to be there, to be by your side

But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over

And neither have I the wings to fly

I wish I had a handsome boatsman

To ferry me over to my love and die

My childhood days bring back sad reflections

Of happy days spent so long ago

My boyhood friends and my own relations

Have all passed on now like a melting of snow

So I'll spend my days in endless roaming

Soft is the grass, and my bed is free

Ah, to be home now in Carrickfergus

On that long road down to the salty sea

And in Kilkenny it is reported

On marble stone there as black as ink

With gold and silver I did support her

But I'll sing no more now til I get a drink

And I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober

A handsome rover from town to town

Oh but I'm sick now and my days are numbered

Come all me young men and lay me down

I wish I had you in Carrickfergus

Only for nights in Ballygrand

I would swim over the deepest ocean

Only to be there, to be by your side.