Where is Athenry? It's in Galway, which you can explore on our award-winning 8 Day Vagabond Wild Irish Rover Tour. Its so lonely round the Fields of Athenry Our love was on the wing / We had dreams and songs to sing
Low lie, The Fields Of Athenry / Where once we watched the small free birds fly Love for country shines through the lyrics:
Author Pete St John captures the tragedy of the Great Famine and the spirit of the Irish. Often heralded as Ireland's unofficial national anthem, this is one of the most famous Irish songs of all time. If you're exploring Ireland's capital city before your Vagabond or Driftwood tour, Molly's statue is certainly worth a visit. Mollys buxom statue now adorns Suffolk Street in Dublin city centre. It touches on the heart of the city and those who have worked as street sellers since the city was established, over a thousand years ago. The song has become an anthem for the people of Dublin. The subject is a Dublin fishmonger who, let's just say, may have sold more than just cockles and mussels. But it was most likely written long before, sometime in the late 19 th century. Most will recognise this Dubliners version. There are so, so many great Irish songs to choose from! Here we go.
I love introducing my favourite Irish songs to guests on Vagabond and Driftwood Small-Group Tours of Ireland.īut narrowing the endless, wonderful history of Irish music down to just ten songs? This was an impossible task (luckily, I gave it another go in my follow-up posts 10 More Irish Songs You Need to Know).