G'day,
"Folksongs & Ballads popular in Ireland" says: "Taken down at different times by collectors like Petrie and Joyce, this song has been published with a set of lyrics known in Scotland and one of Irish origin, different airs were in use with this 18th cent. song".

I've always been puzzled by the line "He/she lives in the Curragh of Kildare".

(Dictionary definition: currach, Scot, Irish a coracle. Also curragh)

Why live in a boat?

More likely it refers to the racecourse of that name, but why live there??

How would an inland racecourse get a name like that???

Does "curragh" mean something else in this case, if so what????

Cheers,
Alan