Athenry is a village in Ireland, near Galway. During the Great Famine (c. 1847) the farmers of Athenry broke into a storehouse containing maize (field corn) which had been shipped from America by order of...
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 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 falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
So she'll wait and hope and pray for her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry
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
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 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 falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
So she'll wait and hope and pray for her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry
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
Lyrics submitted by AirCav1stOfThe9th, edited by AlecSchon
"The Fields of Athenry" as written by Kenneth William Casey Alexander Martin Barr
Lyrics © MEMORY LANE MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The song tells the story of Lord Trevelyan who brought a supply of corn back from America in a bid to battle starvation during the potato famine in the mid-nineteenth century. Unfortunately it was Indian corn too hard to be milled, so useless. However, local people thought it would save them and so broke into the stores, were arrested, and subsequently deported to Australia.
Just thought Id clear it up. makes kinda more sense now, huh?
The song was written in 1979 and recorded by Paddy Reilly. Over the past 17 years more than 400 cover versions have been made .
Just a couple of facts you may care about.
To compare the IRA's campaign to the 9/11 attacks is so ignorant as to be offensive.
To say that they have put the peace process back years is unionist propaganda. Let us remember that the only reason there is a peace process to begin with is because of the war. The Brits were not listening to democratic means (and they were famously gunning down peaceful protests). Without the armed struggle, many catholics, myself included, would still be second class citizens in Belfast with shit jobs and no prospects.
Lemme guess.
You're either American or Canadian, but you have Irish blood, that left Ireland 7 generations ago.
You know nothing. I'm willing to bet that you consider yourself a supporter of the IRA as well, without knowing a thing about them.