A        Bm  E             A    F#m
I wish I was,   in Carrickfergus
         Bm     E         A
Only for nights, in Ballygrant
             Bm  E            A    F#m
I would swim over the deepest ocean
            Bm   E               A
The deepest ocean to be by your side


        E      A   F#m                 E
But the sea is wide and I can't swim over
             A F#m     D        E
And nor have I    the wings to fly
           Bm      E       A      F#m
If I could find me a handy boatman
            Bm  E               A   
To ferry me over to my love and die


              Bm  E              A           F#m
My childhood days bring back sad reflections
         Bm  E              A
Of happy time spend so long ago.
               Bm E              A    F#m
My boyhood friends and my own relations
                Bm E                A
Have all passed on like the melting snow


     E        A   F#m          E
I'll spend my days in endless roving
             A F#m       D      E
Soft is the grass and my bed is free
         Bm      E           A    F#m
Oh to be home now in Carrickfergus
            Bm       E             A
On the long road down to the salty sea


           Bm  E          A   F#m
And in Kilkenny it is reported
         Bm    E            A  
On marble stone as black as ink
              Bm    E         A       F#m
With gold and silver I did support her
                 Bm      E             A
But I'll sing no more now till I get a drink


        E       A  F#m                 E
For I'm drunk today    and I'm rarely sober
           A F#m       D       E
A handsome rover from town to town
            Bm      E                 A      F#m
Oh but I am sick now and my days are numbered
                Bm     E            A
so come on ye young men and lay me down