I wished I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over the deepest ocean
The deepest ocean, the deepest ocean for my love to find

But the sea is wide and I can't swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
I wish I could find a handsome boatman
To ferry me over to my love and die

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

But I’ll spend my days in endless roving
Soft is the grass and my bed is free
Oh to be home now in Carrickfergus
On that long road down to the sea

And in Kilkenny it is reported
There are marble stone there as black as ink
With gold and silver I would support her
But I'll sing no more now 'til I get a drink

Sure I’m drunk today and I'm seldom sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Ah but I am sick now and my days are numbered
So come all ye young men and lay me down
So come all ye young men and lay me down