WEST CATHOLIC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
 PRO DEO ET PATRIA
FOR GOD AND COUNTRY

 

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FIELDS OF ATHENRY THEME

Lyrics  

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By a lonely prison wall,
I heard a young girl call:
"Michael, they have taken you away,
For you stole Trevelyn'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 call
"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free
Against the famine and the crown,
I rebelled, they cut 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 harbor wall,
She watched the last star fall
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she lived to 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.



"Fields of Athenry" is an Irish folk ballad set during the Great Irish Famine (1845-1850) about a fictional man from near Athenry in County Galway who has been sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, Australia, for stealing food for his starving family. It is a widely known and popular anthem for Irish sports supporters and fans of Celtic FC

"The Fields of Athenry" was written in the 1970s by Pete St. John. A claim was made in 1996 that a broadsheet ballad published in the 1880s had similar words; however folklorist and researcher John Moulden found no basis to this claim, and Pete St. John has stated definitively that he wrote the words as well as the music. The song was first recorded in 1979 by Danny Doyle, reaching the top ten in the Irish Singles Chart.[1] The most successful version was released by Paddy Reilly in 1983. While peaking only at number four, it remained in the Irish charts for 72 weeks.

The convict says his crime is that he "stole Trevelyan's corn"; a reference to Charles Edward Trevelyan, a senior British civil servant in the administration of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in Dublin Castle. Some suggest that corn refers to "Indian corn" (maize) imported from America by the government for famine relief, but European use of the word "corn" used to refer to any widely grown grain - barley, oats, wheat, etc.

© Copyright 2008-2011 West Catholic Alumni Association Page Last Updated 01/01/2012 by Richard P. McCann