Carrickfergus (Jim McCann with the Dubliners).

I think this is fantastic.
I wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over the deepest ocean
Only for nights in Ballygrand
But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
If I could find me a handsome boatman
To ferry me over my love and I
My childhood days bring back sad reflections
Of happy time there spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all passed on now like the melting snow
So I?ll spend my days in this endless roving
Soft is the grass and shore my bed is free
But to be home now in carrickfergus
On the 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 would support her
But I'll sing no more now till I get a drink
For I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober
The handsome rover from town to town
Ah but I am sick now my days are numbered
Come all me young men and lay me down

[@billmuncey6147]

It's a grand song and if they don't sing it at my funeral, I'm not going.

[@MonaLisa-lu8zi]

🤣 👍

[@ralphporsch2438]

Man, that's the most excellent plan one can possibly make. 🍀☺👍

[@lindalucas6318]

😜😝😉

[@1gerard47]

Well said ❤

[@jeanneobrien7381]

LOL

[@glennsprigg2378]

No one past present or future, will play/sing this as well as Jim !!!! xoxoxox May Jim now rest in Peace!!!

[@JohnWick-pm5yq]

Just pure beautiful, my late mother peggy loved the dubliners, god bless them all, great people

[@stevencully7184]

was trying to get my dad over to n.ireland to spend the last part of his life there but he died last night in my arms , this was one of the songs he loved ! im in tears sometimes plans dont work out ,not enough time !

[@sammcewan8295]

Steven Cully the thought was there friend

[@Account-qb4lh]

Rip to him amen

[@4pitos4556]

I'm sorry man

[@jackharvey2127]

My commiserations friend, on losing YOR dad at such time.

[@johnoreilly4940]

God love you

[@patrickryan2451]

This song is for you Dad ! You died a few weeks ago in these heartbreaking times ! We couldn't give you the send off you deserved , you will always be our handsome boatman that we love and miss

[@karyngrubb4410]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Losing our parents is something we dread our entire lives.

[@patrickryan2451]

@@karyngrubb4410 Thanks Karyn

[@joemcinally4334]

Thoughts and commiserations to you and yours on the passing of your Dad. As you say it is heartbreaking in these times that friends and relations are unable to give their love ones a proper send off. I can only say that you picked a very fine song to remember your Dad and hopefully he is enjoying it .

[@maureenwalsh988]

I'm desperately sorry. Stand, as the Irish always have. Hold on Patrick.

[@cathymcateer1016]

I'm from Carrickfergus...my dad's favourite song who Also has passed ❤️

[@jacobtaylor4258]

i worked with a lot of irishmen in my younger days in manchester, and this song reminds me of the sorrow i seen in there eyes, when a ballad like this was played, there eyes said it all, WHY IN GODS NAME DID I LEAVE MY BELOVED COUNTRY AND MY FAMILY, it did then and still does bring a lump to my throat, i thank the lord for knowing and drinking with such men, i had my chances to go back to my ancestral routes, i wish i could turn back the clock.

[@Joe-gj1ut]

Fuck me beautiful

[@Joe-gj1ut]

Why can't you

[@d_tyros5282]

ITS NEVER TO LATE TO GO HOME MY FRIEND I WAS IN THE SAME POSITION THERES LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNELL BELIEVE ME HOMEIS HOME AND GREAT SUPPORT THERE IN IRELAND XXXX

[@richardcardozo8664]

one of the most beautiful irish songs EVER !!!!

[@Deejaay83urj38]

Indeed

[@leonstone4738]

There is no doubt that Jim MCCan sings Carrickfergus with great feeling and conviction. One can't help but cling to every word .

[@angelicaluce3230]

Every time I hear this beautiful song I am reduced to a SOBBING SHELL - memories of my golden childhood in Callow, COUNTY MAYO in the West of Ireland, the country that I LOVE the MOST in this world. I'm thousands of miles away from that glorious place - why I cry..

[@brianocallaghan7172]

blessings and greetings from galway city

[@johnloftus21]

I pass through Callow every day, it's still a beautiful place almost untouched by change.....I feel your sense of loss Angelica but lucky the person who has a childhood so precious. My childhood days were spent in Kildangan, Co Kildare...glorious times, different world.

[@Silverblade61]

Irish doesn't need Orchestra ! Only the traditional instruments and a great voice. And the wonderful songs... I Miss this land so much . Thank you for the music !

[@d_tyros5282]

WELOOK AFTER OUR OWN ITS NOT AN ORCHESTRA WE NEED ITS SUPPORT FROM US IRISH TO NOT TO FORGET ABOUT THE IRISH THAT EMIGRATED ABROAD SOME MADE IT SOME DIDNT WERE NOT PLAYING A VIOLAIN WERE SPEAKEKING ABOUT US IRISH THAT DID AND DIDNT MAKE IT YOU MAY MISS THE LAND DO YOU MISS YOUR IRISH PEOPLE THAT EMIGRATEDXXXX

[@luismartinperez5800]

The most amazing performance of this melancholic masterpiece. Greetings from Madrid to all the Irish People and fabulous St Patrick's Day...🥇👏👏👏👏

[@Marlondurran]

Great stuff 👍

[@genadelapena5861]

HAPPY ST.PATRICK'S DAY!I!❤

[@genadelapena5861]

LUV IT!!! ❤

[@jamescantrell1916]

I am an American of Irish descent and I always feel a connection to this music

[@paulwhite3489]

You would it's where you came from your folks probably lived in Ireland for thousands of years. America maybe a couple of hundred years?

[@denisemayger7479]

This song carries me over the deepest ocean, to my family my mother father relatives most have passed fills me with a joy and sorrow at the same time im 74 now and feel part of this song

[@catherineoloughlin7451]

I heard this first in a little co clare town, at a funeral...everything was quiet and a man at the rear of the church began to sing this...omg, what amazing emotion....the 'lady of the day' happened to love this song, but when it started it was beyond any feeling i have ever known.....go ennistymon

[@Dubliners39]

Really missing the old days ☘️🥃

[@ivanbuick3028]

I live in Carrickfergus. I love this, what absolutely beautiful music.

[@johnking1167]

There should be a statue of the DUBLINERS. Its a shame there is not any yet.

[@jackblack804]

`Perhaps the most moving songs I have ever heard in my life

[@franksammon7853]

As an Irish Australian of many years. Always lovely to hear Jim sing this beautiful song. R.I.P. Mate.

[@Deejaay83urj38]

Yep

[@katieheile6178]

First day of spring today. Love you dad.

[@AnnesleyPlaceDub70]

Absolutely fantastic. Another great balladeer now plies his trade in heaven. R.I.P Jim, Up The Dubs!

[@patrickspoint]

OhMyGod, you've just ruined my day, I didn't know he had died, another one gone. I'm away now to cry my eyes out. RIP Jim

[@chrismcgreevy2234]

made your life though

[@sheilagaughan2206]

Chris Mc Greevy ge

[@seanmcgloin8378]

up leitrim

[@josephandrewatkinson6618]

Hill16Dub. We The

[@fredferd965]

I sometimes think the Irish, of all the peoples of the world, are the ones who live in the past, the everlasting now, and in worlds elsewhere, and yet to come - somehow, they travel among them with ease. The price is a song, a tear, a hope, a love, and part of your heart. Beautiful.

[@kieransavage3835]

A really lovely comment Thank You .Irish Exile.

[@fredferd965]

@@kieransavage3835 You are a thousand times welcome, and may the sun shine always in your path.....

[@conormccrory4595]

As a proud irishman i couldn't have put it better myself

[@fredferd965]

@@conormccrory4595 thank you, my friend - it comes from the heart.

[@davidbosquette2940]

Those words are poetry 🇮🇪💚🙏

[@jamiecorrigan3241]

I worked with The Dubliners a few times in the 1970s, well, 'They' were on Stage, while myself was fetching The Carlsberg Specials !!! Wonderful Muscians And Great People !!!

[@agustinlopez2477]

Una Bonita canción para recordar a un gran amigo recientemente fallecido de cancer

[@cararevelscrittenton806]

WOW 2024 what a beautiful song first time hearing it. It was on the TV Show Waking the Dead.

[@paulpaulc4523]

The first time I heard this song was in a Scottish T.V. drama called Dr. Finlay and i love it.

[@Texans9517]

I have traced my family back to Cookstown, Tyrone County, Northern Ireland. My Great Grandfather X6 Hugh Quinn left for America in 1750. Cookstown is not far from Carrickfergus. Listening to this sad, beautiful song makes me want to visit Ireland so badly!

[@RUBYLUD]

It puts me in thought of my own dear parents and grandparents, Scots/Irish, no longer with us. May the good Lord bless them and keep them. God bless dear old Ireland

[@ianbhoy7]

Same as me Martin. Miss them so much. Jim is one of the few singers who seem to feel the emotions that brings me to tears. HH

[@terrietackett8964]

God bless my precious and brave family, who came over to America from County Down, Ireland in the 1800's. God's speed to them...Thank you!!

[@morleybolero]

Nailed it.

[@johnoreilly4940]

Fantastic

[@BAHZ]

The most beautifull Irish song ever. Nobody could sing this better than JmC

[@peterjohn8447]

Bahz Listen to VAN the MAN.s version and I think you.ll change your mind.

[@peterjohn8447]

Bahz he. does it with the cheiftains

[@michaelfurtwangen1662]

mhh dont know. One among many I would say. Irish music has so many great gems that I coundn't choose one over all the others 😅 But if it counts as an Irish song it might be "Spancil hill" for me. It speaks to my german melancholy. This bitter sweet longing for the good old times that might never were. I have to think about the villige I grew up in. Small town near Mannheim. I knew all the streets, places, other kids and their parents. Then we moved away and I never felt this kibd of belonging to a place anymore. I visited the villiage years later and it changed so much, I couldn't really recognize it anymore and most of the people I knew were replaced by strangers. There is no return to the safety of your childhood. This song and some others like "dirty old town" are therefore among my favourites

[@phcoh]

There is another version of this that Jim did way back and with youth behind him its 100% better.

[@Texans9517]

Listen to Allison Moorer's version. She is my wife's cousin and has an incredible voice! She is a Country singer from Alabama and is very popular in the UK.

[@genadelapena5861]

BEAUTIFUL! Can't help but CRY, Reminiscing...💞🙇‍♀️

[@simonetondo4094]

A dream 💚

[@desicoran8285]

I love this as I was born in Kilkenny where the famous black marble was mined by many of my family and ancestors

[@birdiejimenez719]

I never tire of listening to this song . A masterpiece !

[@rene-pierreblanc1657]

Quelle belle voix ! Quelle belle chanson ! Repose en paix, l'ami Jim !

[@d_tyros5282]

A CLASSIC SONG OMG

[@BalingMusicFactory]

Strange to hear it in 6/8, I'm used to hear it in 4/4, but still it's at great song and a great preformance.

[@kingshamie1332]

Well done Jim good night and God bless 👍

[@johngoldsmith4064]

Wonderful. I went there on my holidays. This song stuck in my head xxxxx

[@fgilroy50]

I was 17 the first time I heard this song. It was in the famed Old Sheiling Hotel in Raheny, Dublin, on a Saturday evening in the summer of 1972. And who was the singer? A solo artist named Jim McCann. After his show when the barroom had emptied I presumed to go and talk to him at the bar. What a gentleman. If I am not mistken he told me he was soon to be married and we drank to his good fortune.

[@eikegehrts9961]

RIP, old friend. I first saw Jim McCann on stage with the Dubliners during a concert in Hamburg in the late 1970'ies, but I really I got to know him during his solo career in 1983-1985, when I lived and worked in Clonmel/Co. Tipperary. We met at many occasions, firstly at Hearns Hotel, Clonmel, and afterwards at The Hidden Inn, Ballynacarbry, Co. Waterford. For Jim, I was his "friend from Hamburg" , and during his concerts, he mostly dedicated the song "Spancil Hill" to me. I was triuly shocked to learn that Jim had passed away in 2015. Again "RIP, old friend".

[@ckelly094]

From carrickfergus but Listening to this over the water at uni (England) has me near in tears 😓

[@grimsmith1]

Bloody shame htis guy is not with us anymore - RIP and bless

[@henkdegroot1544]

I am a Dutchman but I love that song so dearly. Henk

[@Silverblade61]

Brings me back to Ireland I.visited a long Time ago and loved it from the first second I arrived... 🤩

[@dianescotter8089]

Still one of me favs. You were all so lucky to have these men and musicions in your era ❤️x

[@megaklesrogakos3807]

I too wish I was in Carrickfergus!

[@joaoribeirofilho6893]

My childhood days bring back sad reflections Of happy time there spent so long ago My boyhood friends and my own relations Have all passed on now like the melting snow But I'll sing no more now till I get a drink cause I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober The handsome rover from town to town Ah but I am sick now my days are numbered Come all me young men and lay me down

[@elainethomson1712]

Carrickfergus sung by the best Jim McCann

[@anncosten7022]

Beautiful, heartbreakingly poignant. Makes you wonder what it is all about. Shows that we waste so much time on nonsense, that makes no difference in the end. Please, god, why not give peace a chance. "My days are numbered" as are us all. Remember that today is the oldest you have ever been and the youngest you will ever be again.

[@Dubliners39]

Thanks dad for being Irish ☘️R.I.P. 🥃

[@wellticklemytummy]

I will learn this and always aim to surpass this absolute master of melody. We are so fortunate to observe this expression of body and soul belonging to an era of change and understanding. God bless the work.

[@Dnubass]

tis songs like this here weigh heavy on the heart of all us Irish who are gone from the country for the unforeseeable future. Sure there is no place like it in the worl. d

[@JacquelineZuurbier]

I love this song so much! I want it also on mine funeral My husband knows X❤

[@KelticKhaos]

how can anyone unlike this? 34 people wouldn't know good music if it jumped up and bit them on the arse!

[@mrmadness2699]

Nerd rage... People hate it when people sing traditional songs if not done exactly like their grandparents did

[@purebloodirishman9389]

That made me chuckle i was about to shoot smone oops.FB. I iiiiiiiiiiiii moniter bad words for eg bombs chems russia snowden wike leaks assang please dont say those key words

[@purebloodirishman9389]

Im irish brother EIRE 32

[@mattdeazeley55]

There are certain songs that certain singers make them there own ... and this is just such a song and the late Jim McCann.

[@granthardy2813]

Clare Gallagher as me mammy would say it would bring tears to a glass eye, I think this song would fill any glass to overflowing.

[@NuclearFishing]

To those who arent here in Carrickfergus with us for whatever reason, may their absence only be of body and not of eternal soul. Long live this country and the people of it.

[@a.genesisd.g.7931]

Jacob Hawthorne Carrickfergus is a country? All this time i thought that carrickfergus is of the Irish land.

[@besserman1]

Jacob Hawthorne Long live all countries.Long live the human race

[@NomadicPhoton]

@@a.genesisd.g.7931 Its a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland

[@ThrustusSimmonds]

What a performance! And one of the few instances that include the entirety of the lyrics. The hard McCann!.

[@celticjimfox]

Rest In Peace Jim McCann

[@marywhelan7127]

Where I was born.❤️😘

[@sheenareid]

This is the best version of Carrickfergus - ever xx

[@ianbhoy7]

Aye hen. Its my fav too. xx

[@JohnWilson-bn1xs]

I dunno. It's fine...but have you heard VAN MORRISON'S VERSION ?

[@Hauntedlavvy-GeorgeFawcett]

@@JohnWilson-bn1xs Best version ever by Scottish band The White Heather Tubes.

[@davidbosquette2940]

Agree 100%

[@kelleefiola5854]

1st time heard on the movie Belfast-just beautiful-had to work hard to find it...pretty sure this is the version in the movie...never heard the Dubliners before-just gorgeous

[@franzbernasek4058]

fantastic great Jim McCann

[@karlaisbitt4819]

IN THE 80,S AND 90,S I SAW JIM MULTIPLE TIMES LIVE IN DUBLIN AND WHEN JIM SANG THIS THE PUB WOULD GO TOTALLY SILENT YOU COULD HEAR A PIN DROP ! R.I.P JIM YOU ARE SORELY MISSED BY MANY..

[@0ldFrittenfett]

I would have died with Barney and John. Such an honour to play with them.

[@KevinMurphy0403]

What an incredibly moving song. RIP Jim.

[@ThefightingCelt]

RIP Jim , you did The Dubliners proud .

[@phillipjarvis5867]

i just love this song

[@johnoreilly4940]

I am there with you Jim.grand man

[@denisemayger7479]

this is the sweetest Irish ballad i have heard beautiful

[@philpatton8521]

beautiful song ,my uncle joe sang this regular .

[@GILLEBRATH]

Beautiful rendition R.I.P. Jim ,Thank you .

[@Blossom1948]

Jim is certainly THE MAN!.....what a sterling job he made of this wonderful song!

[@Silverblade61]

Love it so much ! Ireland is calling me....

[@grahamdonachie6298]

The Dubliners..and the lads who keep their legend on to all who love them....I love them all....

[@jayh5446]

If you are Irish and you don't like this song you're not Irish at heart.

[@Oldboy-jq8xf]

Im german and love this song. Love the dubliners at all. So do you think im irish at heart?

[@KaiTakApproach]

No true Irishman?

[@WingManPilot]

...such an amazing piece of music

[@timothygraham4304]

I still can't actually believe I've seen this man perform live for free in my local! Tickets to this man's shows, should cost what touts charge!

[@karlaisbitt4819]

jim we loved you rest in peace my old buddy..

[@keithleighton9738]

Beautiful rendition of a beautiful song Keith 2018

[@normanspurgeon5324]

They had their way with the bar lines.

[@irishtim55]

i listen to this when i have had a few beers it just sends me somewhere else and i love it

[@garoto1707]

Oh my God, beautiful! From Brazil!

[@newbrabird]

Yeath...traditional Irish song.From a brazilian living in Ireland.

[@MrSTEVIEJINX]

Great song amazingly sung and played, The part @ 4.07 "Ah to be back now"...Such emotion. Brilliant.

[@FFM0594]

He's the voice for this song. Almost perfect!

[@patrickdowling676]

One could write an endless elegy extolling the virtues of this song, this performance, that moment. But instead you could just say "wow".

[@jeffcollett3439]

The way he came on the stage is hilarious Hello. ......HELLO

[@stephenconway3485]

I'm drunk today . . . . great song, great performance 😅

[@honestguy77]

Jim McCann was a musical genius. What true air the like of which is very rare. RIP Jim

[@imedi]

sometimes you forget these people are gone and with us no more

[@jakethedog11]

R.I.P to a true man of Ireland. Never be forgot

[@cjpulliam99]

He made a mistake, as all humans do. Still a beautiful song and rendition.

[@patrickcrevecoeur723]

I WISH TO HAVE LIKE NAME JIM MC CAAN IT's so beuatifull so many thousand thanks for you mister jim mc caan ever and ever

[@TheAnarchistGaming]

Fergus Gibson, I just love the meaning of this song, or just sit, listen, and simply cry. Something inside me tells me to just cry because the song has so many life events that are sometimes just hard for me to express.

[@BennySF74]

Beautifully said.

[@dannyinaus]

Wow, you really have some deep seated emotional issues. No doubt you were raised by women after your useless father abandoned you. You need to suck up it buddy, and get on with life. If you love something, set it free, and if it doesn't come back to you, hunt it down and fucking kill it.

[@tonycarton8054]

many many years ago when i lived in new zealand i met an older man in a pub ,he recognised my accent ,he was longing to come back home ,maybe because of him i am now back home in ni .,with all its faults maybe we get somethings right like this song RIP jim

[@davidmorrison4027]

My mums fav. Always brings a tear to my eye. RIP mum xx

[@sebdetyra651]

I'm livin in England; when i've had a few i open up with 'cause i'm drunk today and i'm seldom sober' And god bless them, they went to the extent of checkin the song out and they all love it now.

[@anaisabel8085]

❤️🙌🙌🙌

[@sianbarbaraallen1330]

A beautiful song with a beautiful man singing it. Rest in Peace, Jim McCann.

[@TheWalkingsouls]

Great voice, great lyrics. Big thumbs up from Pakistan.

[@paulpaulc4523]

I was in Belfast two years ago at the Temple Bar, the singer there sang this song and I loved it.

[@chrisbond2868]

R I P Jim. One of a kind. You will be greatly missed xx

[@stevejones9740]

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[@Glasgow1966]

Memories of my late brother such great song 🌟