On his album, "The Wandering Man", Sean McCarthy sings only four verses and the lyrics differ slightly from those previously posted. He also sings the song at a very slow pace compared to recordings of other singers.

JOHN O'HALLORAN

My name is John O'Halloran, I am eighty-one years old.
I left my boyhood days behind to search for fame and gold.
I left my home in Tralee town on my 22nd year,
I would dig the gold on England's shore, and I'd make my fortune here.

Go down that trench proud Irishman, for you are strong and big;
Go take the shovel by the neck, spit on your hands and dig.
Tear out the guts from Mother Earth from the dawn 'til the fading light;
In the nearest pub you will spend your sub and you'll hate and love and fight.

I have tramped around this country now for fifty years or more
I've loved some women in my time, the good one and the whore
I've tramped it down to Preston town, I've skippered in the rain
I've cursed, I've prayed, I've been poorly paid, I've known hunger, joy and pain.

I loved a girl in Liverpool, she came from sweet Mayo;
I've slept with girls in Tiger Bay, ah their teeth like virgin snow.
I've ate my food in small sheebeens, I have drunk the porter black;
A dirty bed where I'd lay my head, and the lice crawled up my back.

My bones are getting weary now and my shoulders they are bent;
My once black hair, grey with care, my money is all spent.
Soon Sergeant Death will call me home, soon he'll take me by the hand,
Far from Tralee town, lay my body down, in this god forsaken land.

Source: 'The Wandering Man', Sean McCarthy. EMI, ISRMCD 009.