There's another discussion of Danny Boy in progress now. Search a littel further down on the thread list. It is clearly a farewell (parent to son). We usually introduce it as a famine/emmigration farewell. The son going off to find a life outside of Ireland knowing that if ever he returns (over 90% did not) he will likely find his loved ones (mother or father) have passed. For whatever reasons the parting, Danny Boy is the Irish Lament which encapsulates generations upon generations of parting and longing for home.