FWIW - as a singer of Celtic folk songs I perform at a good number of pubs and a fair number of festivals around the country. I recently sang "Fields Of Athenry" at a Dallas pub and one of the town's Celtic
purveyors of pub tradition took me aside and said he loved it. I sing it at a tempo somewhere between the Byrds versions of
"Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn,Turn,Turn" - with a slightly punchy folk-rock feel. Good luck.