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.