Pete St John

St John was born in Inchicore, Dublin in 1932.{{cite web|url = https://www.irelandsown.ie/pete-st-john-the-man-who-wrote-the-fields-of-athenry/ | website = irelandsown.ie | title = Pete St. John – The Man Who Wrote The Fields Of Athenry | first = Seán |last = Creedon | date = December 2020 }} Educated at Synge Street CBS and trained as an electrician, he emigrated to Canada before returning to Ireland in the 1970s.{{cite web|url = https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/fields-of-athenry-composer-pete-st-john-dies-aged-90-1.4825580| publisher = Irish Times | website = irishtimes.com | title = 'Fields of Athenry' composer Pete St John dies aged 90 | date = 13 March 2022 | accessdate = 14 March 2022 }}

He wrote "The Fields of Athenry" in 1979, and it has been recorded by several artists, charting on the Irish Singles Chart on a number of occasions.{{cite web|url = http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=1&placement%2Btitle%5D=Fields_Of_Athenry | website = irishcharts.ie | publisher = Irish Recorded Music Association | title = Irish Charts - Search - Fields of Athenry | accessdate = 12 March 2022 }} A recording by Paddy Reilly, which was released in 1982, remained on the Irish charts for 72 weeks.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcharts.ie/facts/longest_in_chart.htm|title=Facts and Figures — Longest in the Charts|work=The Irish Charts|publisher=Irish Recorded Music Association|access-date=2008-09-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227214552/http://www.irishcharts.ie/facts/longest_in_chart.htm|archive-date=27 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}

St John also composed a number of other modern ballads, such as "The Rare Ould Times" and "The Ferryman", which have been recorded by several artists, including the Dubliners, James Last, Paddy Reilly, and Mary Black.{{cite web |last=Crowley |first=Sinéad |date=2022-03-12 |title=Fields of Athenry songwriter Pete St John dies aged 90 |website=rte.ie |url=https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2022/0312/1286019-fields-of-athenry-songwriter-pete-st-john-dies-aged-90/ |language=en}}{{cite web|url = http://petestjohn.com/works/ | publisher = Pete St John Official Site | website = petestjohn.com | title = Works | accessdate = 11 January 2018 }} A version of "The Rare Ould Times", as sung by Danny Doyle, spent 11 weeks on the Irish Singles Chart, reaching No. 1 in 1978.{{cite web | url = http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=1&placement%5Btitle%5D=Rare+Ould+Times | title = Singles Charts – Placement Search – Rare Ould Times | publisher = Irish Music Rights Organisation | website = irishcharts.ie | accessdate = 11 January 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180111165255/http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=1&placement%5Btitle%5D=Rare+Ould+Times | archive-date = 11 January 2018 | url-status = dead }} St John's songs, including "The Rare Ould Times" and "The Ferryman", sometimes express regret for the loss of old certainties (for example the loss of Nelson's Pillar and the Metropole Ballroom, two symbols of old Dublin, as progress makes a "city of my town").{{cite web|url = http://architectureireland.ie/re-wiring-the-city | publisher = Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland | work = Architecture Ireland (Journal) | date = 4 April 2015 | title = Urban Re-wiring – Dublin's Silicon Docks | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20180111110302/http://architectureireland.ie/re-wiring-the-city | archivedate = 11 January 2018 | first = Cormac | last = Murray }}{{cite news|url = https://www.irishmusicdaily.com/ferryman | newspaper = Irish Music Daily | title = The Ferryman – lament for passing of Dublin tradition | date = | accessdate = 14 March 2022 }}

St John won several awards, including the Irish Music Rights Organisation's "Irish Songwriter of the Year". He died in Dublin on 12 March 2022, at the age of 90.{{cite web|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/03/15/pete-st-john-songwriter-loved-ireland-fields-athenry-dublin/ | website = telegraph.co.uk | publisher = The Telegraph | date = 15 March 2022 | title = Pete St John, songwriter who was loved in Ireland for Fields of Athenry and Dublin in the Rare Auld Times – obituary}} After his funeral, Paddy Reilly and Glen Hansard performed "Fields of Athenry" at Beaumont House in Dublin as a tribute.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tnPIpVFMzg Paddy Reilly and Glen Hansard, Fields Of Athenry], video on YouTube, 4 April 2022

• Songs written by Pete St John

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• {{Official website|http://www.petestjohn.com/}}
• {{discogs artist|Pete St. John}}
• {{imdb name|2038291}}

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Category:1932 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:Irish folk singers

Category:Irish male singer-songwriters

Category:Irish singer-songwriters

Category:People educated at Synge Street CBS

Category:Singers from Dublin (city)