Texts

verse beg. A Chinn Choradh, caidhi Brian?

  • Modern Irish
  • verse
  • Irish poetry
Elegiac poem lamenting the desolation of Kincora (Co. Clare), Brian Bóruma's seat, after the battle of Clontarf.
First words (verse)
  • A Chinn Choradh, caidhi Brian?
(Oh Kincora, where is Brian?)
Author
Ascribed to: Mac Líacc [Muirchertach]
Mac Líacc ... Muirchertach
(d.. 1014 / 1016 (AU))
Middle Irish poet, who is described as 'chief poet of Ireland' (ard-ollamh Érenn) in the Annals of Ulster; becomes the subject of a body of later medieval Irish literature.

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Ascribed to Mac Líacc, poet to Brian Bóruma.
Language
  • Modern Irish
  • “The language is no older than 1650, and no MS. older than that of Fergal O Gara, mentioned by O Reilly, is forthcoming. Probably it was his composition” (O Lochlainn: 37).

Form
verse (primary)

Classification

Irish poetryIrish poetry
...

Subjects

battle of ClontarfIreland c.800-c.1169
battle of Clontarf
id. 27255

Series of events leading up to and during the battle of Clontarf as well as its aftermath.

Brian Boru
Brían Bóruma (Brian Boru)
(c. 941–23 April 1014)
High-king of Ireland from the Dál Cais, son of Cennétig mac Lorcáin (d. 951); typically known for breaking the hegemony of the Uí Néill in Ireland; died at the battle of Clontarf (1014). He is the celebrated hero of Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib, a twelfth-century propagandistic narrative text that has helped to enhance his reputation.

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Cenn CoradCenn Corad
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

Hardiman, James [ed.], and John D'Alton [tr.], “Cionn-Chorraidh: Kincora, or Mac Liag’s lament”, in: James Hardiman (ed.), Irish minstrelsy, or bardic remains of Ireland: with English poetical translations, 2 vols, London, 1831. Vol. 2: 196–201, 360–367.
Internet Archive – text: <link> Internet Archive – notes: <link>
Mangan, James Clarence [tr.], “Lamentation of Mac Liag for Kincora”, Irish Penny Journal 28 (1841): 220–221.
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>

Secondary sources (select)

Goedheer, A. J., Irish and Norse traditions about the battle of Clontarf, Nederlandsche bijdragen op het gebied van Germaansche philologie en linguistiek, 9, Haarlem: Tjeenk Willink, 1938.
Delpher: <link>
62–63
Ó Lochlainn, Colm [ed.], “Poets on the battle of Clontarf [part 2]”, Éigse 4:1 (1945): 33–47.
37
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
July 2011, last updated: January 2024