Digital Tradition Mirror

Carrickfergus

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

Carrickfergus

G        Am  D
G    Em
I wish I was in Carrickfergus,

Am    D    C    G
Only for nights in Ballygrant
             Am   D            G   Em
I would swim over the deepest ocean,
           Am   D    C    G
Only for nights in Ballygrant, *
                 G                    D
But the sea is wide and I cannot cross over
                   Em  C         D
And neither have I the wings to fly
                 Am   D           G
I wish I could meet a handsome boatsman
Em           Am   D    C       G
To ferry me over, my love to find **
My childhood days bring back sad reflections
Of happy times I spent so long ago,
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all passed on now like 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.

But in Kilkenny, it is reported,
On marble stones there as black as ink
With gold and silver I would support her,
But I'll sing no more 'till I get a drink.
For I'm drunk today, and I'm seldom sober,
A handsome rover from town to town,
Ah, but I'm sick now, my days are numbered,
Come all you young men and lay me down.

    * or: The deepest ocean for my love to find.
   ** or: ...to my love and die.

(NOTE: the middle verse is omitted in most versions)

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recorded by De Dannan, Noel McLoughlin and many, many others.

This is one of the most popular sentimental Irish love songs.
Carrickfergus is a town in Ulster near Belfast.

MJ

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!