Danny Boy was written in 1910 by an Englishman, Frederic Edward Weatherly. Originally, he set it to a different tune. His sister-in-law sent him the tune Londonderry Air, which she encountered in America, in 1912; he then reset his song to that tune. The text has no earlier roots.

It is uncertain whether Londonderry Air actually derives from Aisling an Oigfhear - they are NOT the same beast by a different name - so if you wish to sing those words to Londonderry Air, you may have to do some adjusting.

Supposedly, there are hundreds of texts which have been set to this tune, so someone should surely be able to provide you with some nice Gaelic lyrics, though they probably wouldn't be a translation of Danny Boy. Then again, I'm sure someone HAS translated it into Gaelic (or at least Irish), considering that the song has been milked (wrung?) by every Irish tenor on the planet.

Can anyone provide Weatherly's original tune for Danny Boy? I don't believe it's in any of the existing threads.