I wish I was in Carrickfergus Only four nights in Ballygrand I would swim over the deepest ocean The deepest ocean to be by your side But the sea is wide and I can't swim over Nor have I the wings to fly If I could find me a handy boatman To ferry me over to my love and die My childhood days bring back sad reflections Of happy time spend so long ago My boyhood friends and my own relations Have all passed on now like the melting snow 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 the long road down to the salty sea And in Kilkenny it is reported On marble stones as black as ink With gold and silver I did support her But I'll sing no more now 'til I get a drink For I'm drunk today and I'm rarely sober A handsome rover from town to town Oh, but I am sick now and my days are numbered So, come on 'ye young men and lay me down