Close reading of the thread also suggests that this older-than-Maguire variant may indeed have originated in Ireland - Scarborough says as much in one story above that conflicts with her recollection of another source.

The enormous popularity of the sentimental Maguire-based versions apparently contributes to the suspicion (and earnest desire on the part of some) that this is not a "real" folk song. One thing this thread makes clear is that there are published versions of a song from 1919, 1927, 1935, and 1937 that are virtually the same as the one Maguire copyrighted. Maguire just did what many others in the business did - took a traditional song, changed it around a bit, and claimed (in this case lucrative) copyright.

It's no big deal - except for the now fashionable urban myth that Maguire wrote it. He didn't. My Galway-born grandmother recalled singing it as a girl, and she was born in 1891 - she did pretty much the Tommy Makem version of the song.