The song has some minor variants on spelling of names and places, depending on where it was sung or collected.
It is number J11 in Laws’ collection and #983 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
[3] The song is based on the true story of a young ex-soldier from the Glen of Aherlow named Patrick Sheehan who was blinded at the Siege of Sevastopol.
Sheehan was later jailed in 1857 for begging in Grafton Street, Dublin, his British army pension having expired after six months.
[4] Due to the publicity arising from this case, the British government was shamed into inquiring about Sheehan, to whom a life pension of a shilling a day was granted.