Had a listen to Ronnie Drew singing this - doesn't seem to be in any of the Dubliners songbooks I could lay hold of. He definitely sings "or some foreign parts". The reference is to a time (sixties) when the Irish Army was on peace-keeping duties in Cyprus and the Belgian Congo.

He also sings "very odd fish" alright! I suspect its a fairly typical Irish play on words: apart from being an occasional denizen of the deep, an "odd fish" is an eccentric or rather strange character!

I was wondering about the reference to "all the way round". Coincidentally, there's an item in today's paper about a proposal to reopen "Spenser Dock" - which used to be the nly non-tidal way of getting from the Royal Canal to the Grand (or, indeed, vice versa!). The reference may be to its closure.

Regards