G'day Guest,

Well ... versions starting "In a neat little town they call Belfast" are, in effect parodies ... or, at least adaptations as the original 19th century song, as printed in broadsides found all over the British Isles, which was set in Barking (suburb of London).

From information in various threads on Mudcat, I think all the "Belfast" and "Dublin" versions are 1960s Irish folk band adaptations of a collected version from Sam Larner of Winterton.

Regards,

Bob