Carrickfergus
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I wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over 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 wings to fly
If I could find me a handsome boatman
To ferry me over to my love and die

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

But I’ll spend my days in endless roaming
Soft is the grass, my bed is free
Ah, to be back now in Carrickfergus
On that long road down to the sea

And in Kilkenny it is reported
There are marble stones as black as ink
With gold and silver, I would support her
But I’ll sing no more now till I get a drink

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

Behind The Song / Traditional arrangement by Peter Eades, Órla Fallon
Carrickfergus is an old town on the northern side of Belfast Lough. In this sad, wistful song, a man nearing the end of his days looks back on his life with loss and sadness.

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