From "Ride On", a fantastic book by Jimmy Mac. Reissued by Town House, Dublin, in paperback, this year and highly recommended :

quote
Page 31 :
"
Ride On
People often ask me about this song but, purely and simply, it is a song of parting. The parting of lovers, the parting of emigrants from their homeland and friends, the parting when illness or accident takes the life of a loved one. I have been asked to sing this song at many funerals services and, somehow, it always feels right.
Christy Moore recorded this song on his Ride On album in 1984 and it was my first hit. I will always be grateful to him for giving me the start with what would have been then regarded as a most unlikely song-writing voice.
Christy obviously recognised "Ride On" as a song of parting when, on its release, he dedicated it to the memory of the great Luke Kelly.
I am often asked about the line "Run the claw along my gut one last time" (in the same way as i'm asked about the line "I am the geek with the alchemist's stone", from my song "The Bright Blue Rose"). These dramatic lines jolt the listener into a deeper engagement, or at least this was my intention in employing such devices. That is not to say that they were not a natural part of the flow of expression but, while most writers would edit them out, i feel that a song, like llife, depends on the decisions one makes and these decisions were not taken lightly. Some people may think that i just throw paint at the canvas, but there is exactitude and detail in the placing of every word and phrase until i am satisfied that the lyric is absolutely watertight. It has always bothered me that the previously mentioned line from "Ride On" has often been changed to "Run YOUR claw along my gut one last time", which clearly denotes an intention to cause pain, when the pain i envisioned is simply the pain of living life. The pain of parting and separation that no life can escape. Life is hard. Ride on.
"
End of quote

Hope this helps...