Just got the Dinneen, "Foclóir Gaedhilge Agus Béla (Dictionary of Irish and English)"today. "bád", a boat, lists as variant spellings "báda" and "báta" with the latter being listed as an Ulster variant.

My teacher from Kerry was quite amused at the title of the song, though, as it made her think of a stern schoolteacher (translates to "man of the stick").