I think the song might be, "An Irish Mother", which you might find by the first lines:

"A wee slip drawing water, the Ould Man at the plow,
No grown-up son or daughter...."

Mention of the contributions sent from abroad - "the big money on a Californey farm" - to support the smallholding back home in Ireland would have woken an echo for many listeners when the song was made, and for generations afterwards.
If I remember correctly, Brendan O'Dowda made a recording of this one.
Good Luck.