We present to you an excerpt from the new autobiography of Paddy Reilly, From the Athenry Fields to the Dubliners and beyond, written with Tom Gilmore.
Born in Rathcoole, County Dublin in 1939, Paddy Reilly is one of Ireland’s most famous ballads. He recorded the final version of Athenry Fieldsmaking the song famous across the world, and also had huge hits with songs such as The city that I loved so well and The Craic was ninety in the Isle of Manm Paddy says he became a singer “by accident”, starting out singing in bars for his own enjoyment and quickly developing into a hugely successful career, touring the US, Australia and elsewhere. When Ronnie Drew retired as lead singer of The Dubliners in 1996, Paddy was inevitably brought in to replace him. Now Paddy recounts a life lived in music…
“The Fields of Athens” found me
Many versions of Athenry Fields were recorded – almost 100, some of them in different languages. But the final recording is by Paddy Reilly. Others had hits with it too, but the undisputed fact is that Paddy took “The Fields” out into the world.
Sports also figured prominently in Paddy’s life and coincidentally his biggest hit, although not a sports song at all, became inextricably linked to various sports, such as Gaelic football, soccer and rugby.
Paddy says that Athenry Fields is the song that changed his life, but he’s somewhat jaded by his own contribution to this life-changing hit. “I didn’t find ‘The Fields’ – ‘The Fields’ found me,” is his nonchalant, self-effacing answer when asked about this massive hit.
Paddy categorically refuses to comment on earlier releases, such as Danny Doyle or The Barleycorn. “It’s a very unfair question, and I refuse to be dragged into a discussion of other versions,” Paddy says with a wry smile.
He says he had no idea he had a hit on his hands after recording it, saying his manager, the late Jim Hand, insisted the song, recorded for an album, be released as a single .
“If you knew what would be a hit,” says Paddy, “you would never record a miss. It was a great song, written by Pete St John, but I was just recording it as a track for an album. We went into the studio with fourteen or sixteen songs, most of which I had selected, and “The Fields” was one of them.
‘After recording it, Jim said it would be a hit, and he was right. He chose it as the winner, and I replied that it had already been recorded, because I was aware that other versions already existed. But he said it didn’t matter and we should start over. I never thought my version would be the most successful.
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Watch: Paddy Reilly performing The Fields Of Athenry with The Dubliners in 2003
“Pete St John and I got along really well – he’s a laid back guy like me, but he’s such an amazing songwriter. I was thrilled for Pete that it was such a hit too. But for me, it completely changed my life. I went from playing in pubs for £50 or £60 a night to playing in theaters all over the world.
A big change was the appearance fee his manager could now get for him following the success of Athenry Fields. One of the leading promoters of live music in the West of Ireland, Pat Jennings of the TF Royal Hotel and Theater in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, has brought some of the biggest acts in all genres of music to play in his Mayo room.
“I used to drive up to Castlebar to play there for £50 or £60 a night. Sometimes I could spend more at night than I would earn. I had to drive home after all my gigs, no matter where in Ireland I was playing. I couldn’t afford to stay because it would cost more than what I would have earned for the concert.
“Pat Jennings called my manager Jim Hand, regarding my booking for the Castlebar Grand Concert Hall, and he asked what the charge would be. When Jim told her the cost, there was a long pause on the other end of the line. I was in the office at the time and Jim thought the phone line might be down. So he yelled into the mouthpiece, “Pat, are you still there?” and only then did Pat respond. His response was hilarious – he said: “I think these are the most expensive fields in Ireland.” We all laughed, as did Pat. I played for Pat on many other occasions after that. He was a gentleman to work for, but I’ll never forget that comment.
The late Jim Hand was Paddy’s one and only manager. If he became a singer by chance, and had his biggest success by chance, he also had his manager by chance.
“Jim lived in Raheny, and promoter Bill Fuller had the Old Shieling Hotel there, where I used to play. It was there that I first met Jim and he convinced me that I needed a manager. That’s how it happened. We have always had a good friendship as well as a professional relationship. But I guess in other words it could also be described as ‘honor among thieves’ or something,” Paddy laughs.
His Jim-selected hit stayed on the Irish charts for a staggering seventy-two weeks between 1983 and 1984, but Paddy is also quite jaded about this startling statistic. “Yeah, it was on the charts for like that number of weeks. But it was just a great song, written by Pete St John.’
He says the song just took off for him, “even though it had been done by a few others before me”. Among the musicians in the recording session that produced Athenry Fields for Paddy in 1983 was Bill Whelan. Just over a decade later, Bill was the composer for the seven-minute piece of music river dancewhich was performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994.
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Watch: Paddy Reilly, Glen Hansard and friends perform The Fields Of Athenry after Pete St John’s funeral at Beaumont House, Dublin, in 2022
While Bill helped create the hit rendition of The fields for Paddy, the first version of the song that entered the Irish charts was by the late Danny Doyle in 1979. The song again gained chart traction in Ireland in 1982/83. Before Paddy’s rendition became such a hit, the most successful version was the one recorded by The Barleycorn. This was shortly before Paddy’s version would spend its phenomenal seventy-two weeks on the charts.
Asked about the success of the song, Paddy modestly says it was just luck having the right song at the right time. ‘As I’ve often said, you would never record a failure if you knew what would be a success. It was like “shooting in the dark”. People adopted my version. With his trademark smile and a gleam in his eye, Paddy adds in a pleasant rather than boastful tone: “Sure, maybe ours was the best!”
Sadly, while this book was being written, songwriter Pete St John (aka Peter Mooney), who was ninety years old, died in Dublin on March 12, 2022. Many of his friends and music industry colleagues attended a memorial service for him. at Whitehall Church, Dublin on Saturday 2 April.
Paddy Reilly From the fields of Athenry to the Dubliners and beyond is published by The O’Brien Press
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