Fields of Athenry

"Sir Charles Trevelyan was secy of the treasury for Irish relief. When the potato failed, he said it was God's punishment of the Irish and 'an opportunity to clear the land of surplus population'. He exported Irish grain (on the same ships as fleeing peasants) for the 'free market'. Trevelyan's relief corn was inedible. His cold heartedness is believed to have increased Irish deaths. No country infested by the potato blight had death on such a scale."
patpol2007



Fields of Athenry
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."
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
Against the famine and the crown,
I rebelled, they cut me down.
Now you must raise our child with dignity."
By a lonely harbor wall, she watched the last star fall
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she lived to hope and pray for her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• irish
• famine
• potoato
• blite
• ireland
• celtic

[ComradeStanimir]

People killing innocents for their rights: Terrorism. Governments killing innocents for their own good: "Social Policy"

[ira19161]

and they say the Irish are Murderers , ain't the british calling the kettle black or if the cap fits you whear it

[petekay62]

@blonde7000 IOM is a beautiful place as well. I've visited many times.

[rerevisionist]

@aranterranting - fair question, but a bit outdated, as the Irish 'elite' have a policy of importing coloured immigrants into Ireland. It's the same anti-white policy as in Europe and the USA.

[rerevisionist]

@bucnomore11 - OK, I accept you're too stupid to think for yourself. Maybe there's a reason for the popualr belief that the Irish are thick.

[Englishboy672k1]

@xFmAxkItTyxGuRlx - surely if he's burned in Hell, it's already happened? So your tense is wrong. Also, should Bobby Sands et al burn in Hell? Some consistency please....

[Englishboy672k1]

@rerevisionist - "credulous"? surely not

[Englishboy672k1]

@ProvosAttYourDoor - like all those suffering from an inferiority complex, you don't face recent truths, such as the fact that republicans bombed a Remembrance Day parade. Wow, provisionals are SO BRAVE, like the people in America miles from the troubles, who supported (and continue to support) them.

[cathiemarvellous]

@zsazsabinksie It is one thing to remember what happened to the Irish and feel agrieved but I think it's only important to remember in order to stop it from re-occuring today. Look in the shops - beans from Kenya, rice from India... is everyone in these countrys fed? I think not.

[zsazsabinksie]

@winterborn791

Never ever should this be forgotten. Even today, generations later it must not be forgotten