It has all the hallmarks of a stall copy original. The 2 widely differing extant versions at least tell us something, a strong likelihood of an 18th century origin and a strong oral presence in Ireland and America, though there is really nothing to suggest an Irish origin. Relocation is very common in print and oral traditions.

Some of the verbal variations could be down to conscious rewriting but I would say most probably oral tradition is responsible for most of it. This indicates it has probably been in oral tradition for at least a century.

The motif of planting a gold ring on the victim is more common in Ireland as mentioned above, but it needn't have originated there.

If I come across a printed version I'll post it here.