An Cléireach
Encyclopedia
An Cléireach is a novel by the Irish writer Darach Ó Scolaí
, published in 2007 and winner of the 2007 Oireachtas
Prize for Literature.
The protogonist and narrator is a soldier and clerk in dispute with his colonel over a promotion. In north Munster in the year 1650, as the remnants of the royalist army flees from the victorious parliamentarians, a band of poets and soldier-scribes are brought together and, regardless of the proximity of the enemy, spend the night storytelling.
In the stories recounted by Cearbhall Óg Ó Dálaigh
, Toirdhealbhach Carach Ó Conchubhair and Fear Flatha Ó Gnímh
, another theme surfaces in the novel, the story of a young man who has been entrusted with the safekeeping of an ancient psalter
that has been in his family's keeping for three hundred years, and who has to flee abroad with the book as the country is over-run by the English in 1601.
His hereditary responsibility brings him to the Spanish Netherlands, to Bohemia
where he takes part in the Battle of White Mountain
as a musketeer in captain Somhairle Mac Domhnail
l's company, and from there to the Irish College of St Anthony in Leuven
(Louvain), in the company of Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh
and Father Brian Mac Giolla Coinnigh, and finally back to Ireland during the wars of the Irish Catholic Confederation and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
.
And although the dispute between the narrator and the colonel is brought to a head that night in Ireland, the final strands of the novel are brought together in 1667 as the narrator lives in exile in the Spanish Netherlands.
Tadhg Dubh Ó Cróinín in The Limerick Leader emphasizes the credibility and verisimilitude of the writing that succeeds in convincing the reader that at all times he is in the centre of the vortex no matter where the action takes him.[2] Philip Cummings in Lá Nua reads the novel as a contemporary fiction, drawing attention to the author's tricks and modern conscious narrative.[3]
Darach Ó Scolaí
Darach Ó Scolaí is an Irish novelist, playwright, publisher, and artist living in the County Galway Gaeltacht of Connemara. He was awarded the Oireachtas Prize for Literature in 2007 for his novel, An Cléireach.- Writing :...
, published in 2007 and winner of the 2007 Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
Prize for Literature.
The protogonist and narrator is a soldier and clerk in dispute with his colonel over a promotion. In north Munster in the year 1650, as the remnants of the royalist army flees from the victorious parliamentarians, a band of poets and soldier-scribes are brought together and, regardless of the proximity of the enemy, spend the night storytelling.
In the stories recounted by Cearbhall Óg Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Óg Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was a 17th century Irish language poet and harpist, who composed the song "Eileanóir a Rún".Cearbhall was a common name amongst people of the Ó Dálaigh surname, and more than one poet of that surname bore the name Cearbhall. The Cearbhall Óg who composed 'Eileanóir a Rún' was...
, Toirdhealbhach Carach Ó Conchubhair and Fear Flatha Ó Gnímh
Fear Flatha Ó Gnímh
-Life:Fear Flatha Ó Gnímh was a member of a hereditary learned family based at Larne, County Antrim, who had being bard for the O'Neills. His known surviving poems are* A Niocláis, nocht an gcláirsigh!* Beannacht ar anmain Éireann...
, another theme surfaces in the novel, the story of a young man who has been entrusted with the safekeeping of an ancient psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
that has been in his family's keeping for three hundred years, and who has to flee abroad with the book as the country is over-run by the English in 1601.
His hereditary responsibility brings him to the Spanish Netherlands, to Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
where he takes part in the Battle of White Mountain
Battle of White Mountain
The Battle of White Mountain, 8 November 1620 was an early battle in the Thirty Years' War in which an army of 30,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian of Anhalt were routed by 27,000 men of the combined armies of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor under Charles Bonaventure de Longueval,...
as a musketeer in captain Somhairle Mac Domhnail
Somhairle Mac Domhnail
Somhairle Mac Domhnaill , called by English speakers Sorley McDonnell, was a renowned soldier for the Gaelic cause in Ireland and Scotland during the Thirty Years War and the patron who commissioned two 17th century manuscript collections of poems, Duanaire Finn and The Book of O'Connor Donn.-Early...
l's company, and from there to the Irish College of St Anthony in Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
(Louvain), in the company of Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh
Mícheál Ó Cléirigh
Mícheál Ó Cléirigh , sometimes known as Michael O'Clery, was an Irish chronicler, scribe and antiquary and chief author of the Annals of the Four Masters, assisted by Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire, and Peregrinus Ó Duibhgeannain.-Background and early life:Grandson of Tuathal...
and Father Brian Mac Giolla Coinnigh, and finally back to Ireland during the wars of the Irish Catholic Confederation and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in 1649...
.
And although the dispute between the narrator and the colonel is brought to a head that night in Ireland, the final strands of the novel are brought together in 1667 as the narrator lives in exile in the Spanish Netherlands.
Tadhg Dubh Ó Cróinín in The Limerick Leader emphasizes the credibility and verisimilitude of the writing that succeeds in convincing the reader that at all times he is in the centre of the vortex no matter where the action takes him.[2] Philip Cummings in Lá Nua reads the novel as a contemporary fiction, drawing attention to the author's tricks and modern conscious narrative.[3]