Irish Ballad: Fields of Athenry

My daughter has formed a relationship with history through her love for Irish and Scottish ballads (she has both Irish and Scottish in her ancestry). One of her favorites is Fields of Athenry. It is written by Pete St John and definitively sung by Paddy Reilly. It dates from the time of the great Potato Famine in Ireland (I hadn't known it, but there was also a potato famine in the Scottish Highlands at the same time, only not so severe and politically exacerbated).

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

Chorus
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.
'gainst the famine and the Crown
I rebelled, they run me down.
Now you must raise our children with dignity."

Chorus

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

The beautiful photo is by Sean Tomkins, a self-taught Galway photographer. The link leads to several other pics of his work.

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