That's Bill Meek, Songs of the Irish in America (Dublin: Gilbert Dalton, 1978). Unfortunately, though sections of his book have been copied into the DT, any background information he gave has not been included. The file spells "slieve" inconsistently.

The Roud Folk Song Index lists a few examples, all from the North of Ireland, the earliest having been recorded in 1953. The tune usually used by revival performers is from Francis McPeake; that also is the tune with the DT file. Whether Bill got the song from an American source I can't say, but on the whole I suspect not. I expect he says in his book. There is a set in Colm O Lochlainn, More Irish Street Ballads (1965, p 18) which may have helpful information attached: I don't have a copy of that, but there are plenty of people around the Forum who do. The Slieve Gallen Brae in Sam Henry's Songs of the People (1990, pp 172-3) does name a writer, but that's a completely different song, though with the same title.