The Fields of Athenry

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

History

"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, the 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. 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 lyrics say the convict's crime is that he "stole Trevelyan's corn"; this is a reference to Charles Edward Trevelyan, a senior British civil servant in the administration of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in Dublin Castle.

Recordings

Other artists to have recorded versions include The Chancers, Portland, Frank Patterson, Ronan Tynan, Brush Shiels, James Galway, The Dubliners, Charlie Haden with daughter Petra Haden, Seanchai & The Unity Squad, Scottish band North Sea Gas, Newcastle upon Tyne band, Kelda with vocalist Jack Routledge, Boston-based American group Dropkick Murphys, Yonkers-based group Shilelagh Law, California punk band No Use for a Name, New Zealanders Hollie Smith and Steve McDonald, The Durutti Column, by the Canadian group The Tartan Terrors, The High Kings, and by Dr. Kieran Moriarty and friends. Serbian bands who recorded the song include Orthodox Celts and Tir na n'Og. It was also recorded by a Polish band called Carrantuohill and in 2005 by a Hungarian folk-rock band Sacra Arcana. US Celtic/Klezmer/folk band Scythian recorded the song on their 2007 Immigrant Road Show album. It also featured in Irish Clubland with a dance beat.

A reggae version of this song was recorded by the Century Steel Band in the early 1990s.

Dropkick Murphys recorded a punk-rock version of this song on their 2003 album Blackout, as well as a softer version they recorded specially for the family of Sergeant Andrew Farrar, a United States Marine from the 2nd Force Support Service Group killed in Fallujah Iraq. Blaggards blended the song with Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues in a medley called Prison Love Songs. Second-generation Irish Londoners, Neck, also recorded a "psycho-ceilidh" version of the song. Other punk versions of the song have been recorded by the bands No Use for a Name, The Tossers, and the Broken O'Briens. The Greenland Whalefishers, a Celtic-punk band from Norway, also recorded a version on their Streets Of Salvation CD.

The song was also recorded by Canadian celtic rock band the Mudmen on their album "Another Day" released in 2010. The Mudmen feature bagpipers Rob and Sandy Campbell who perform on the Hockey Night In Canada theme song on CBC television.

One notable recent recording is on Charlie Haden's Rambling Boy (Decca, 2008). It's sung by Charlie's daughter Petra Haden, with instrumental breaks from Bruce Hornsby (piano), Jerry Douglas (dobro) and Pat Metheny (guitar), who also wrote the arrangement in contemporary harmonies.

Sporting anthem

The song was adopted by Republic of Ireland national football team supporters during the 1990 World Cup and subsequently by Celtic supporters in the early 1990s. The song is also associated with the Munster, London Irish and Ireland rugby union teams.

"The Fields of Anfield Road" is sung by Liverpool supporters to the same tune, but with suitably adapted lyrics referencing their history and stadium.

At the Beijing Olympics Boxing Final featuring Irish boxer Kenny Egan, Tom Humphries of the Irish Times noted, "By the time Egan and Zhang emerged the great rhythmic roars of "Zhang! Zhang! Zhang!" competed to drown out the lusty warblings of a large Irish contingent who returned to singing of the problems of social isolation in rural Athenry.

In film

The song is sung in the movie Veronica Guerin, by Brian O'Donnell, then aged 11, a street singer in Dublin. It is also sung a cappella by a female character at a wake in the 1994 film Priest. It also appears in Dead Poets Society (an anachronism, as the film is set in 1959, before the song was written) and 16 Years of Alcohol. An a cappella version of the first verse and chorus can be found during a singing contest judged by Janeane Garofalo in the film The Matchmaker.

Republican chorus

When performed by rebel bands, a republican version of the chorus is frequently sung, with the audience chanting back at the performer:(Audience chants in brackets)

Low lie the fields of Athenry
"[Athenry]"
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
[Hey baby let the free birds fly!]
Our love was on the wing
[Sinn Féin!]
We had dreams and songs to sing
[I.R.A.!]
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

See also

• List of Irish ballads
• Irish rebel music
• Other rugby anthems:
  • Flower of Scotland
  • Ireland's Call
  • Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (sung by England fans)