Celtic FC Pub Song: The Fields of Athenry

"The Fields of Athenry" is a song about the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), composed in the 1970s by Inchicore songwriter Pete St. John.

"The Fields of Athenry" is a folk song about the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1849. It tells the story of the famine through first-person narrative.

The song, which was first recorded by Irish ballad singer Danny Doyle, recounts the tale of a prisoner who has been sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, Australia, for stealing food to feed his starving family.

The song has been recorded by many Irish artists such as Paddy Reilly, Frank Patterson, Ronan Tynan, Brush Shiels, James Galway, and by Boston-based American group The Dropkick Murphys. Serbian bands who recorded the song include Orthodox Celts and Tir na n'Og.

The song is associated with Galway and Gaelic games supporters there. It has recently been associated with the Munster, London Irish and Irish rugby union teams and the football club Celtic F.C. (of Glasgow, Scotland) which has a strong association with Ireland. Loyalists have adapted the song, with the main line changed to "Low lie, the fields of Ballynafeigh". "The Fields of Anfield Road" is sung by Liverpool F.C. supporters to the same tune, but with suitably adapted lyrics referencing their history and stadium.

The Fields of Athenry — from the website of the composer. Supporters of Irish Republicanism sometimes sing the song with the lyrics "Where once we watched the small free birds fly - oh baby, let the free birds fly / Our love was on the wing - Sinn Féin / We had dreams and songs to sing - IRA / It's so lonely round the Fields of Athenry."

Trevelyan in the lyrics refers to Charles Edward Trevelyan, a senior British civil servant in the administration of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in Dublin Castle, who saw the Famine in classic Malthusian theory as a natural means of 'controlling excessive population'. Trevelyan is widely blamed for the inadequacy of the British Government's response. His reports to London underestimated the severity of the Famine and overestimated the problems that could arise in providing assistance to the starving.

Trevelyan's corn: According to Paddy Reilly being interviewed on RTE radio, this was a reference to maize imported from America into Ireland for famine relief. A quantity was stolen from storage in Cork. The Irish were unfamiliar with the grain. As it was meant for seed, it proved too hard to mill for flour and was used mostly in gruel.

Botany Bay refers to the Botany Bay penal colony in Australia.

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling
"Michael, they have taken you away
For you stole Trevelyan's corn
So the young might see the morn'
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay"

Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man calling
"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free
Against the famine and the crown
I rebelled, they ran me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity"

Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

By a lonely harbour wall, she watched the last star falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she'll live in hope and pray for her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

TomC