Meidhbhín
Ní Úrdail s. xx–xxi
Works authored
Preliminaries; 1. Introduction; 2. The Ó Longáin scribal family; 3. Material contained in the Ó Longáin manuscripts; 4. Script and print: interactions and reciprocal influences; 5. Conclusion; Appendix: manuscript reproductions; Bibliography and indexes.
Preliminaries; 1. Introduction; 2. The Ó Longáin scribal family; 3. Material contained in the Ó Longáin manuscripts; 4. Script and print: interactions and reciprocal influences; 5. Conclusion; Appendix: manuscript reproductions; Bibliography and indexes.
Works edited
Contributions to journals
This article provides an edition of a poem beginning A Éamainn, an agad féin! which is preserved today in National Library of Scotland MS Adv. 72.1.42. The focus of its anonymous author is twofold, namely (i) to praise Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill (ob. 1649), nephew of Aodh Ó Néill, second Earl of Tyrone, for his extraordinary martial abilities, particularly throughout the 1640s following his return to Ireland from Spanish Flanders in July 1642; (ii) to upbraid the audacity of ‘Éamann’ for his criticism of Piaras Feiritéar, poet and military leader from the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, who himself composed a poem in support of Ó Néill’s auspicious military credentials.
This article provides an edition of a poem beginning A Éamainn, an agad féin! which is preserved today in National Library of Scotland MS Adv. 72.1.42. The focus of its anonymous author is twofold, namely (i) to praise Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill (ob. 1649), nephew of Aodh Ó Néill, second Earl of Tyrone, for his extraordinary martial abilities, particularly throughout the 1640s following his return to Ireland from Spanish Flanders in July 1642; (ii) to upbraid the audacity of ‘Éamann’ for his criticism of Piaras Feiritéar, poet and military leader from the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, who himself composed a poem in support of Ó Néill’s auspicious military credentials.
Scholarly research from the 1980s onwards on emigration from Ireland to New York informs us that by the second half of the nineteenth century, the city was home to a significant number of Irish migrants. Research by the late Professor Kenneth Nilsen, in particular, makes for fascinating reading about the efforts of a number of literate Irish speakers who, on settling in New York, set about actively promoting their native language in the city. Early records of the Catholic Church in New York also yield some evidence of the use of the Irish language. The city’s first Catholic pastor, for example, an Offaly-born Capuchin friar by the name of Father Charles/Maurice Whelan (1741–1806) began ministering in St. Peter’s Church in 1785, and was described as being “more fluent in Gaelic and French than in English.” Following the establishment in Dublin of the Irish literary society known as the Ossianic Society on St. Patrick’s Day 1853, moreover, a New York branch was founded in 1858 and devoted itself, among other things, to Irish-language instruction. [...]
Scholarly research from the 1980s onwards on emigration from Ireland to New York informs us that by the second half of the nineteenth century, the city was home to a significant number of Irish migrants. Research by the late Professor Kenneth Nilsen, in particular, makes for fascinating reading about the efforts of a number of literate Irish speakers who, on settling in New York, set about actively promoting their native language in the city. Early records of the Catholic Church in New York also yield some evidence of the use of the Irish language. The city’s first Catholic pastor, for example, an Offaly-born Capuchin friar by the name of Father Charles/Maurice Whelan (1741–1806) began ministering in St. Peter’s Church in 1785, and was described as being “more fluent in Gaelic and French than in English.” Following the establishment in Dublin of the Irish literary society known as the Ossianic Society on St. Patrick’s Day 1853, moreover, a New York branch was founded in 1858 and devoted itself, among other things, to Irish-language instruction. [...]
Cuid thábhachtach de shaothrú léann na Gaeilge san ochtú céad déag ab ea é abhar staire dúchais a theaglamú agus a thabhairt le chéile: ba chás leis an lucht léinn ag an am, idir scríbhneoirí agus léitheoirí, an staireagrafaíocht féin. Níorbh ionadh san, gan dabht, toisc ceist an aitheantais agus tuiscintí i leith an chultúir Ghaelaigh a bheith ag athrú de réir a chéile in Éirinn san am úd. Fairis sin, bhí tábhacht nach beag ag gluaiseacht na hársaíochta agus ag an athrú dá réir a chuaigh ar phátrúntacht na scríobhaithe dúchais Ghaeilge san ochtú céad déag. Bhí bonn leagtha cheana féin fé athinsint na staire sa tseachtú haois déag san Eoraip trí chéile, gan amhras, nuair a tháinig tuiscintí nua ar an stair agus ar an staireagrafaíocht. Cuimhnímid i gcás na hÉireann, mar shampla, ar an bhflosc chun taifeadta a thaispeáin Míchéal Ó Cléirigh agus a chomh-Phróinséiseánaigh idir na blianta 1632 agus 1636 gurbh é Annála Ríoghachta Éireann a thoradh san; nó fós ar Foras Feasa ar Éirinn Shéathrúin Chéitinn a mheas (fé mar a áitimh sé féin sa réamhrá ansúd) ‘ná’r bh’oircheas comhonóraighe na hÉireann do chrích, agus comh-uaisle gach foirne d’ár áitigh í, do dhul i mbáthadh, gan luadh ná iomrádh do bheith orra’.
Cuid thábhachtach de shaothrú léann na Gaeilge san ochtú céad déag ab ea é abhar staire dúchais a theaglamú agus a thabhairt le chéile: ba chás leis an lucht léinn ag an am, idir scríbhneoirí agus léitheoirí, an staireagrafaíocht féin. Níorbh ionadh san, gan dabht, toisc ceist an aitheantais agus tuiscintí i leith an chultúir Ghaelaigh a bheith ag athrú de réir a chéile in Éirinn san am úd. Fairis sin, bhí tábhacht nach beag ag gluaiseacht na hársaíochta agus ag an athrú dá réir a chuaigh ar phátrúntacht na scríobhaithe dúchais Ghaeilge san ochtú céad déag. Bhí bonn leagtha cheana féin fé athinsint na staire sa tseachtú haois déag san Eoraip trí chéile, gan amhras, nuair a tháinig tuiscintí nua ar an stair agus ar an staireagrafaíocht. Cuimhnímid i gcás na hÉireann, mar shampla, ar an bhflosc chun taifeadta a thaispeáin Míchéal Ó Cléirigh agus a chomh-Phróinséiseánaigh idir na blianta 1632 agus 1636 gurbh é Annála Ríoghachta Éireann a thoradh san; nó fós ar Foras Feasa ar Éirinn Shéathrúin Chéitinn a mheas (fé mar a áitimh sé féin sa réamhrá ansúd) ‘ná’r bh’oircheas comhonóraighe na hÉireann do chrích, agus comh-uaisle gach foirne d’ár áitigh í, do dhul i mbáthadh, gan luadh ná iomrádh do bheith orra’.