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Fields of Athenry    by St. John

           D                            G                     D    A7

By the lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling,

D                G              A7                   D                        G

Michael they are taking you away, For you stole Trevellyan’s corn,

   D                               A7                                                           D

So the young might see the dawn, Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay.  

              D     G     D                                                                                             A7

Chorus: Low lie the fields of Athenry, Where once we watched the small free-birds fly,

                                      D                       G                D                             A7                                                             D

                               Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing, It’s so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

By the 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 ran me down,

Now you must raise our child with dignity.

Chorus

By a lonely harbour wall,

She watched the last star falling,

As that prison ship sailed out against the sky,

Sure she’ll wait and hope and pray,

For her love in Botany Bay ,

It’s so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

Chorus

Chorus     

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    The words of the Field of Athenry are clearly just a variant on the 1888 version - I'd say it's a good variant, with changes for the better, but the changes are pretty minor. I can't see that Pete St John could call it an original song on the basis of them alone. On the other hand it is quite possible that the tune might have been made up by Pete St John, which would give him more of a claim of its being his song.

    I read an artcal by Pete ST John about the song a few months ago in The Celtic View ( magazine of Glasgow Celtic football club ) where he said that 3 ship loads of inedible corn were anchored off the south coast of Ireland and that some starving people tried to swim over and steal some of it, they were caught, charged and then punnished by Transportation. Trevelyan was Secretary around the time of the famine - 1845-49

    If you read the book "The Great Hunger' by Cecil Woodham-Smith, which I beleive is an articulate and highly accurate account of the famine in the mid 1800's, you will find out about Trevelyan and the rest of the English government leaders, who stood by and watched as the irish starved. Trevelyan did not try hard when it came to saving the Irish and the government at large, did nothing to assist the dying.