can you tell me more about the irish song Danny Boy?

Question

i love this song and sing it all time. It reminds me of my irish Grandpa who came from ireland to settle down in good old australia.
can some old guy here tell me how old this song is, and who originally wrote it?

Answer 1

I'd love to help you, but the pipes are calling!!

Answer 2

I was always told that "Danny Boy" is a song of love between a father and his son going off to war.
http://www.ireland-information.com/irishmusic/dannyboy.shtml

The song is widely considered an Irish anthem, and the tune is used as the anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, even though the song's writer was not Irish, and the song was and is more popular outside Ireland than within. Though the song is supposed to be a message from a woman to a man, the song is actually sung by men as much as, or possibly more often than, women. It has also been interpreted by some listeners that the song is a message from a parent to a son, with the singer saddened that the son has gone to war, or left Ireland forever in the Irish diaspora.

Answer 3

"Danny Boy" is a love song from a woman to a man; providing one of many lyrics set to the tune of the Londonderry Air. It was written in 1910 by Frederick Weatherly, an English lawyer, and set to the tune in 1913. The first recording was made by Ernestine Schumann-Heink in 1915. Weatherly suggested in 1928 that the second verse would provide a fitting requiem for the actress Ellen Terry.

Answer 4

It's about dieing and going to heaven. Ireland ie Heaven