Off Topic: Fields of Athenry

Hi. I'm a non english native speaker and a big fan of the Dropkick Murphys. One of there cover songs is called Fields of Athenry and I was wondering what the words "Low lie the fields of Athenry" mean. I understand the words but not the sentence as a whole. Here are the complete lyrics

Code:

[QUOTE]    
    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 falling
    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. [/QUOTE]

 

"Tessie" is a great song as well though I don't care much for baseball. My favorite DKM songs are probably "Heroes from our past", "Workers song", "Wicked sensitive Crew" and "Kiss me I'm Sh!tfaced". But actually I couldn't name a single DKM song that I don't like. Saw them live last week. it was awesome.

To Athenry: What does it mean when something "lies low". Does that mean the place is lonely? I don't understand it.