Topic summary
The Fields of Athenry
"The Fields of Athenry" is an Irish folk ballad written in 1979 by Pete St John. Set during the Great Famine of the 1840s, the song's lyrics feature a fictional man from near Athenry in County Galway, who stole food for his starving family and has been sentenced to transportation to the Australian penal colony at Botany Bay. It has become a popular anthem for Irish sports supporters.