If we are to trust the writer/author, whoever it might be, then the song was written most likely in America by an Irishman thinking of home. Kickham did spend time in New York and Chicago. However, unless someone can locate the original first stanza, then we may never know. Kickham was born in Mullinahone, County Tipperary. Locate a stanza that reads "a Tipperary town" and then that may be a place from which to start. (Note to self.)