The DT doesn't note the author of the song, Alf MacLochlainn. He was a librarian in Dublin, then Galway - probably retired now. County Derry source singer Eddie Butcher recorded the song and didn't know where he got it from, so the folklorists were confounded when they learned its authorship. I think the story is that someone who got the song from Eddie sang it at a party and Alf was present and surprised to hear his song passing into the tradition.