Aogán Ó Rathaille
Encyclopedia
Aodhagán Ó Rathaille, also spelt Aogán Ó Rathaille or Anglicised as Egan O'Rahilly (1670–1728), was an Irish language
poet
. He is credited with creating the first fully developed Aisling
poem.
region of County Kerry
into a relatively prosperous family. His father died when Aodhagán was still young leaving his mother in good circumstances. However, his mother relinquished their property and they then moved to Cnoc an Chorrfhiaidh (Stagmount) where Aodhagán lived for a considerable time under the chiefdom of the Mac Cárthaigh (MacCarthys). It was likely here that Aodhagán was trained in the bardic arts. He acquired an excellent education in the bardic school of the Egan family (ollamhs to the Mac Cárthaigh Mór) and was taught Latin
and English
as well as Irish literature
and history
. He became a respected ollam
h and traveled to the homes of the Old Irish chiefs where he was treated as an honoured guest. He also worked as a scribe.
. The changes in Irish society directly impacted Ó Rathaille’s life and resulted in his social status being reduced from that of a respected ollamh to a destitute pauper. This transition was a source of huge bitterness to Aodhagán and it was this pathos that drove him to pen much of his poetry.
Aodhagán Ó Rathaille was related to the brehon
s to the Mac Cárthaigh Mór family and would have seen them as his chiefs and patrons). Due to the Munster plantation
however, the Browne family (later known as Kenmare) had succeeded to the MacCarthy lands under English occupation. Unlike most of the English settlers, the Brownes soon reverted to their old Catholic faith and made matches with the leading Catholic families in Munster and Leinster - Ó Suilleabháin Mór (O'Sullivan Mor), Fitzgerald of Desmond, MacCarthys, Butlers, O'Briens, Plunketts and many others.
Sir Valentine Browne, 3rd Baronet, 1st Viscount (1638–1694) was a supporter of James II
, King of England and was given the title Viscount Kenmare by James. He was the landlord and patron of Aodhagán Ó Rathaille. However, after the fall of James in 1691, Valentine Browne became attainted for his association with James and his estates were made forfeit in 1691. His son Nicholas Browne, 4th Baronet, 2nd Viscount was also a Jacobite supporter and therefore also attainted and could not claim the estates. Nicholas Browne's children were still to inherit though, so the commissioners of the estate were instructed not to let the estate for more than 21 years. However, it was let to John Blennerhasset and George Rogers (two members of parliament) for a contract of 61 years. Attempting to retain the estate and curry favour, Blennerhasset and Rogers claimed they planned to plant the estate with Protestants when their illegal contract was questioned by the English Commission in 1699.
However, the contract was quashed and in 1703 the estate was sold to John Asgill, who had married a daughter of Nicholas Browne. Under his management, two ruthless and greed driven men, Timothy Cronin and Murtagh Griffin collected the hearth money tax from tenants and felled the woods for quick profit. Aodhagán composed a vitriol-ridden satire upon the death of Griffin, and another in “honour” of Cronin. It is likely that as a consequence of the loss of the estate by the Brownes, Ó Rathaille had to leave his native district and lived in poor circumstances at Tonn Tóime, at the edge of Castlemaine
Harbour, some twelve miles west of Killarney.
It was not until the death of Nicholas Browne in 1720, that the Kenmare estates were again placed under the ownership of a Browne – Nicholas’ son Valentine. Valentine Browne (5th Baronent, 3rd Viscount
) took possession of the Kenmare estate upon the death of Nicholas Browne in 1720. Having been destitute for so long, (even composing a poem on his gratitude at receiving the gift of a pair of shoes) Ó Rathaille clearly hoped for a restoration of his position as ollamh and celebrated Valentine’s marriage to Honora Butler in 1720 in an Epithalamium
.
However, society had changed vastly in the intervening time and the estates had suffered under the mismanagement of John Asgill and were taking a severely reduced income. Valentine Browne either could not or would not restore Ó Rathaille's position. It seems that the refusal of this request was sufficiently devastating for Ó Rathaille to compose the bitter and mournful poem in which he launches a vitriolic attack on the new English gentry like Valentine Browne and makes reference to the failure of the Jacobites
as being a primary cause for his own situation.
Little historical biographical reference has been found concerning Ó Rathaille's personal circumstances during his life and the above details are mostly based on a literal interpretation of his surviving poems. Breandán Ó Buachalla warns against putting too much stock in literal interpretation of the poems especially regarding the death-bed poem.
poem (a type of poem where Ireland is portrayed as a beautiful woman who bewails the current state of affairs and predicts an imminent revival of fortune, usually linked to the return of a Stuart King
to the English throne.) This style of poetry was often copied in later years. His best-known and most popular poem is the great aisling "Gile na Gile (Brightness Most Bright)" which has been called one of the miracles of Irish literature.
Dinneen's work on Ó Rathaille, published in 1900, was the first published scholarly edition of the complete works of any of the Irish poets.
In 1924, Daniel Corkery devoted a chapter of his groundbreaking book "The Hidden Ireland" to Ó Rathaille.
The final poem composed by Ó Rathaille on his deathbed is one of the finest of Irish literature and the ultimate expression of the rage and loss that Ó Rathaille had been presenting in poetry during most of his life. William Butler Yeats
later made reference to this work in his poem The Curse of Cromwell.
Ó Rathaille's life can be seen as a microcosm of the changes in culture and society which occurred in Ireland during the end of the 17th century. His loss of status and resultant destitution are direct parallels to the death of the bardic tradition and the subsequent near-extinction of the Irish language.
Ó Rathaille is buried in Muckross Abbey
near Killarney
in County Kerry
.
and piper Liam O'Flynn
perform Gile na Gile on the album "The Poet and the Piper".
There is a traditional slow air called O'Rathaille's Grave which has been performed by Matt Malloy on the album "Stony Steps". It has also been recorded by Denis Murphy
and Julia Clifford
on the album "The Star Above the Garter" and by Joe Burke on the album "The Tailors Choice".
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
poet
Irish poetry
The history of Irish poetry includes the poetries of two languages, one in Irish and the other in English. The complex interplay between these two traditions, and between both of them and other poetries in English, has produced a body of work that is both rich in variety and difficult to...
. He is credited with creating the first fully developed Aisling
Aisling
The aisling , or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry...
poem.
Early life
It is thought that Ó Rathaille was born in Screathan an Mhil (Scrahanaveal), in the Sliabh LuachraSliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra is a region in Munster, Ireland, located around the River Blackwater, on the County Cork/County Kerry/County Limerick borderland.-Music and literature:...
region of County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
into a relatively prosperous family. His father died when Aodhagán was still young leaving his mother in good circumstances. However, his mother relinquished their property and they then moved to Cnoc an Chorrfhiaidh (Stagmount) where Aodhagán lived for a considerable time under the chiefdom of the Mac Cárthaigh (MacCarthys). It was likely here that Aodhagán was trained in the bardic arts. He acquired an excellent education in the bardic school of the Egan family (ollamhs to the Mac Cárthaigh Mór) and was taught Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as well as Irish literature
Irish literature
For a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature. Irish literature encompasses the Irish and English languages.-The beginning of writing in Irish:...
and history
History of Ireland
The first known settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge. Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals, particularly from the Iberian Peninsula, were...
. He became a respected ollam
Ollam
In Irish, Ollam or Ollamh , is a master in a particular trade or skill. In early Irish Literature, it generally refers to the highest rank of Fili; it could also modify other terms to refer to the highest member of any group: thus an ollam brithem would be the highest rank of judge and an ollam rí...
h and traveled to the homes of the Old Irish chiefs where he was treated as an honoured guest. He also worked as a scribe.
Later life
Ó Rathaille lived through a time of major political and social upheaval in Ireland which was ultimately to result in the near abandonment of the Irish language and the death of the bardic traditionBardic poetry
Bardic Poetry refers to the writings of poets trained in the Bardic Schools of Ireland and the Gaelic parts of Scotland, as they existed down to about the middle of the 17th century, or, in Scotland, the early 18th century. Most of the texts preserved are in Middle Irish or in early Modern Irish,...
. The changes in Irish society directly impacted Ó Rathaille’s life and resulted in his social status being reduced from that of a respected ollamh to a destitute pauper. This transition was a source of huge bitterness to Aodhagán and it was this pathos that drove him to pen much of his poetry.
Aodhagán Ó Rathaille was related to the brehon
Brehon
Brehon is the term in Gaelic-Irish culture for a judge. The Brehons were part of the system of "Brehon Law". The Brehons wore yellow robes when delivering verdicts. Several dozen families were recognised as hereditary brehon clans.-See also:* Mac an Bhaird...
s to the Mac Cárthaigh Mór family and would have seen them as his chiefs and patrons). Due to the Munster plantation
Plantations of Ireland
Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were the confiscation of land by the English crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from England and the Scottish Lowlands....
however, the Browne family (later known as Kenmare) had succeeded to the MacCarthy lands under English occupation. Unlike most of the English settlers, the Brownes soon reverted to their old Catholic faith and made matches with the leading Catholic families in Munster and Leinster - Ó Suilleabháin Mór (O'Sullivan Mor), Fitzgerald of Desmond, MacCarthys, Butlers, O'Briens, Plunketts and many others.
Sir Valentine Browne, 3rd Baronet, 1st Viscount (1638–1694) was a supporter of James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, King of England and was given the title Viscount Kenmare by James. He was the landlord and patron of Aodhagán Ó Rathaille. However, after the fall of James in 1691, Valentine Browne became attainted for his association with James and his estates were made forfeit in 1691. His son Nicholas Browne, 4th Baronet, 2nd Viscount was also a Jacobite supporter and therefore also attainted and could not claim the estates. Nicholas Browne's children were still to inherit though, so the commissioners of the estate were instructed not to let the estate for more than 21 years. However, it was let to John Blennerhasset and George Rogers (two members of parliament) for a contract of 61 years. Attempting to retain the estate and curry favour, Blennerhasset and Rogers claimed they planned to plant the estate with Protestants when their illegal contract was questioned by the English Commission in 1699.
However, the contract was quashed and in 1703 the estate was sold to John Asgill, who had married a daughter of Nicholas Browne. Under his management, two ruthless and greed driven men, Timothy Cronin and Murtagh Griffin collected the hearth money tax from tenants and felled the woods for quick profit. Aodhagán composed a vitriol-ridden satire upon the death of Griffin, and another in “honour” of Cronin. It is likely that as a consequence of the loss of the estate by the Brownes, Ó Rathaille had to leave his native district and lived in poor circumstances at Tonn Tóime, at the edge of Castlemaine
Castlemaine, County Kerry
Castlemaine is a small town in County Kerry, southwest Ireland. It lies on the N70 national secondary road between Killorglin and Tralee.-History:...
Harbour, some twelve miles west of Killarney.
It was not until the death of Nicholas Browne in 1720, that the Kenmare estates were again placed under the ownership of a Browne – Nicholas’ son Valentine. Valentine Browne (5th Baronent, 3rd Viscount
Sir Valentine Browne, 3rd Viscount Kenmare
Sir Valentine Browne, 5th Baronet, 3rd Viscount Kenmare was the son of Sir Nicholas Browne, 2nd Viscount Kenmare, and his wife, Helen...
) took possession of the Kenmare estate upon the death of Nicholas Browne in 1720. Having been destitute for so long, (even composing a poem on his gratitude at receiving the gift of a pair of shoes) Ó Rathaille clearly hoped for a restoration of his position as ollamh and celebrated Valentine’s marriage to Honora Butler in 1720 in an Epithalamium
Epithalamium
Epithalamium refers to a form of poem that is written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber...
.
However, society had changed vastly in the intervening time and the estates had suffered under the mismanagement of John Asgill and were taking a severely reduced income. Valentine Browne either could not or would not restore Ó Rathaille's position. It seems that the refusal of this request was sufficiently devastating for Ó Rathaille to compose the bitter and mournful poem in which he launches a vitriolic attack on the new English gentry like Valentine Browne and makes reference to the failure of the Jacobites
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
as being a primary cause for his own situation.
Little historical biographical reference has been found concerning Ó Rathaille's personal circumstances during his life and the above details are mostly based on a literal interpretation of his surviving poems. Breandán Ó Buachalla warns against putting too much stock in literal interpretation of the poems especially regarding the death-bed poem.
Legacy
Aodhagán Ó Rathaille is credited with creating the first fully developed AislingAisling
The aisling , or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry...
poem (a type of poem where Ireland is portrayed as a beautiful woman who bewails the current state of affairs and predicts an imminent revival of fortune, usually linked to the return of a Stuart King
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
to the English throne.) This style of poetry was often copied in later years. His best-known and most popular poem is the great aisling "Gile na Gile (Brightness Most Bright)" which has been called one of the miracles of Irish literature.
Dinneen's work on Ó Rathaille, published in 1900, was the first published scholarly edition of the complete works of any of the Irish poets.
In 1924, Daniel Corkery devoted a chapter of his groundbreaking book "The Hidden Ireland" to Ó Rathaille.
The final poem composed by Ó Rathaille on his deathbed is one of the finest of Irish literature and the ultimate expression of the rage and loss that Ó Rathaille had been presenting in poetry during most of his life. William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
later made reference to this work in his poem The Curse of Cromwell.
Ó Rathaille's life can be seen as a microcosm of the changes in culture and society which occurred in Ireland during the end of the 17th century. His loss of status and resultant destitution are direct parallels to the death of the bardic tradition and the subsequent near-extinction of the Irish language.
Ó Rathaille is buried in Muckross Abbey
Muckross Abbey
Muckross Abbey is one of the major ecclesiastical sites found in the Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary for the Observantine Franciscans by Donal McCarthy Mor....
near Killarney
Killarney
Killarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is located north of the MacGillicuddy Reeks, on the northeastern shore of the Lough Lein/Leane which are part of Killarney National Park. The town and its surrounding region are home to St...
in County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
.
External links
- Bio and two translations
- Irish text of Gile na Gile
- The band Gan Ainm have a concept album based on Ó Rathaille's life
In popular culture
Nobel prize winning poet Seamus HeaneySeamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
and piper Liam O'Flynn
Liam O'Flynn
Liam O'Flynn is a master uilleann piper and prominent Irish folk musician. In addition to an impressive solo career and his work with the Irish traditional group Planxty, O'Flynn has recorded with many prominent international musical artists, including Mark Knopfler, the Everly Brothers, Enya,...
perform Gile na Gile on the album "The Poet and the Piper".
There is a traditional slow air called O'Rathaille's Grave which has been performed by Matt Malloy on the album "Stony Steps". It has also been recorded by Denis Murphy
Denis Murphy (Irish musician)
Denis Murphy was an Irish fiddler and noted traditional musician.Murphy was born in Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, County Kerry one of eight children of Bill and Mainie Murphy. His father played fife, flute and fiddle and had a fife and drum band. It was a house where music was played a lot with...
and Julia Clifford
Julia Clifford
Julia Clifford was a fiddler and Irish traditional musician.Julia Murphy was born at Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, County Kerry, part of an area in west Munster known as Sliabh Luachra one of eight children. Her father Bill played flute, fife, and fiddle and had a fife and drum band...
on the album "The Star Above the Garter" and by Joe Burke on the album "The Tailors Choice".
See also
- Piaras FeiritéarPiaras FeiritéarPiaras Feiritéar was an Irish poet.Feiritéar was a Norman-Irish lord of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh in Corca Dhuibhne. Although best known as a poet, it was his role as a leader of the nascent Catholic Irish community of Norman- and Gaelic- Irish origin which ultimately lead to his execution in...
- Dáibhí Ó BruadairDáibhí Ó BruadairDáibhí Ó Bruadair was one of the most significant Irish language poets of the 17th century. He lived through a momentous time in Irish history and his work serves as testimony to the death of the old Irish cultural and political order and the decline in respect for the once honoured and feared...
- Cathal Buí Mac Giolla GhunnaCathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna-Biography:Along with Peadar Ó Doirnín, Art Mac Cumhaigh and Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta, Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna one of the four most prominent of the south Ulster and north Leinster poets in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries...
- Peadar Ó DoirnínPeadar Ó Doirnín-Biography:Ó Doirnín is one of the most celebrated of the Ulster poets in the eighteenth century and along with Art Mac Cumhaigh, Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna and Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta was part of the Airgíalla tradition of poetry and song...
- Séamas Dall Mac CuartaSéamas Dall Mac CuartaSéamas Dall Mac Cuarta was a central figure in the seventeenth and eighteenth century Airgíalla school of poets and songwriters in the Irish language...
- Art Mac CumhaighArt Mac CumhaighArt Mac Cumhaigh was, along with Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna, Peadar Ó Doirnín and Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta, among the most celebrated of the south Ulster and north Leinster poets in the eighteenth century...
- Brian Mac Giolla PhádraigBrian Mac Giolla PhádraigBrian Mac Giolla Phádraig was a scholar and poet of noble descent from Ossory. Only a handful of his poems are still extant. A cry of despair against the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, and its consequences for the world and class which he belonged to, his Faisean Chláir Éibhir bears a striking...
- Seán Clárach Mac Dónaill
- Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin