Nurture your Nature

Fields of Athenry 🇮🇪 Brian O'Donnell [ASR]

Fields of Athenry 🇮🇪 can be sweet or haunting. My friend Celia Farran sings it sweetly but I prefer this version sung by Brian O'Donnell as it's raw and moving. Story is he was a street busker when he was found.

But... google him... can't find any more info.

The song is notorious in Ireland. It's used in rugby matches... but it really strikes a chord for all those who lament the tragedies of Ireland's past and hope for a better future.

For me it just resonates.



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 harbour wall
She watched the last star falling
As that prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she lived 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

Songwriter: Pete St. John