Brian Merriman
Encyclopedia
Brian Merriman or in Irish Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre (circa 1749 – July 27, 1805) was an Irish language
poet
and teacher. His single surviving work of substance, the 1000-line long Cúirt An Mheán Oíche (The Midnight Court) is widely regarded as the greatest comic poem in the history of Irish literature
.
Shortly after his birth, his mother married a stonemason who was working on the walls of the Deerpark estate in Ennistymon. The family moved to Feakle
and some years later Merriman is known to have owned a 20 acre (81,000 m²) farm in the area. He is also known to have taught the hedge school
nearby in the townland of Kilclaren. He married around 1787 and had two daughters. In 1797, the Royal Dublin Society
awarded him two prizes for his flax crop. Around 1800 he moved to County Limerick
, where he ran a school until his death. He is buried in Feakle graveyard.
, or vision poem, in which the poet is out walking when he has a vision of a woman from the other world. Typically, this woman is Ireland and the poem will lament her lot and/or call on her 'sons' to rebel against foreign tyranny. In Merriman's hands, the convention is made to take a satirical and deeply ironic twist.
In the opening section of the poem, a hideous female giant appears to the poet and drags him kicking and screaming to the court of Queen Aoibheal
of the Fairies. On the way to the ruined monastery
at Moinmoy, the messenger explains that the Queen, disgusted by the twin corruptions of Anglo-Irish
landlords and English Law
, has taken the dispensing of justice upon herself. There follows a traditional court case under the Brehon law form of a three-part debate.
In the first part, a young woman calls on Aoibheal
declares her case against the young men of Ireland
for their refusal to marry. She complains that, despite increasingly desperate attempts to capture a husband via intensive flirtation at hurling
matches, wake
s, and pattern days
, the young men insist on ignoring her in favor of late marriages to much older women. The young woman further bewails the contempt with which she is treated by the married women of the village.
She is answered by an old man who first denounces the wanton promiscuity
of young women in general, suggesting that the young woman who spoke before was conceived by a Tinker
under a cart. He vividly describes the infidelity
of his own young wife. He declares his humiliation at finding her already pregnant on their wedding night and the gossip which has surrounded the "premature" birth of "his" son ever since. He disgustedly attacks the dissolute lifestyles of young women in general. Then, however, he declares that there is nothing wrong with his illegitimate children and denounces marriage
as "out of date." He demands that the Queen outlaw it altogether and replace it with a system of free love
.
The young woman, however, is infuriated by the old' man's words and is barely restrained from physically attacking him. She mocks his inability to fulfill his marital duties with his young wife, saying that she was a homeless beggar who married him to avoid starvation. She vividly argues that if his wife has taken a lover, she well deserves one. She then calls for the abolition of priestly celibacy, alleging that priests would otherwise make wonderful husbands and fathers. In the meantime, however, she will keep trying to attract an older man in hopes that her unmarried humiliation will finally end.
Finally, in the judgement section Queen Aoibheal rules that all laymen must marry before the age of 21, on pain of corporal punishment
at the hands of Ireland's women. She advises them to equally target the romantically indifferent, homosexuals, and unmarried skirt chasers who boast of the number of notches on their belts. Aoibheal tells them to be careful, however, not to leave any man unable to father children. She also states that abolishing priestly celibacy is beyond her mandate and counsels patience.
To the poet's horror, the younger woman angrily points him out as a 30-year-old, bachelor
and describes her many failed attempts to attract his interest in hopes of becoming his wife. She declares that he must be the first man to suffer the consequences of the new marriage law. As a crowd of infuriated women prepares to flog him into a quivering bowl of jelly, he awakens to find it was all a terrible nightmare.
of the time. In its frank and satirical treatment of sexuality, ironic parody of the battle of the sexes
, and its biting social commentary
,
Cúirt An Mheán Óiche is a unique document in the history of Irish poetry
in either language.
Cúirt An Mheán Oíche was never written down by its author and preserved, like much Gaelic poetry, in an oral format. It was first published in 1850 in an edition by the Irish scholar John O'Daly. In the 20th century, a number of translations have been produced, including notable English versions by Arland Ussher
, Frank O'Connor
, Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford
, David Marcus
, Ciarán Carson
, Thomas Kinsella
and a partial translation by Seamus Heaney
. Brendan Behan
is believed to have written an unpublished, lost, version. O'Connor's translation, which is perhaps the most popular, was banned in Ireland by the Censorship Board in 1946, because of the sexual frankness of the content.
Cumann Merriman was founded in 1967 to promote the poet's work. They run an annual Merriman Summer School in County Clare
each August.
In 2005, the Clare County Library released a CD recording of a local seanchai reciting Cúirt An Mheán Óiche in the traditional oral manner. Although it has not been made available for purchase, Cumann Merriman has posted excerpts on their website. For added contrast, the same passages are also reproduced from a modern dramatic reading of the poem.
In recent years, Merriman's poem and other Gaelic satires have heavily influenced the writings of several modern Irish poets like Seamus Heaney
and Thomas Kinsella
. Flann O'Brian's metafiction
al novel At Swim Two Birds also shows the influence of Cúirt An Mheán Óiche as well as other works of Irish mythology and literature.
In a 1993 lecture on Merriman's life and work, Seamus Heaney
declared,
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
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and teacher. His single surviving work of substance, the 1000-line long Cúirt An Mheán Oíche (The Midnight Court) is widely regarded as the greatest comic poem in the history of 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:...
.
Merriman's life
Merriman appears to have been born illegitimately in Ennistymon, County Clare. His mother was surnamed Quilkeen and his father's identity remains unknown.Shortly after his birth, his mother married a stonemason who was working on the walls of the Deerpark estate in Ennistymon. The family moved to Feakle
Feakle, County Clare
Feakle is a village in County Clare, Ireland. Its population in 2006 was 122. It neighbours Lough Derg and the towns of Tulla and Scarriff. Feakle is famous for its traditional music festival.-History:...
and some years later Merriman is known to have owned a 20 acre (81,000 m²) farm in the area. He is also known to have taught the hedge school
Hedge school
A hedge school is the name given to an educational practice in 18th and 19th century Ireland, so called due to its rural nature. It came about as local educated men began an oral tradition of teaching the community...
nearby in the townland of Kilclaren. He married around 1787 and had two daughters. In 1797, the Royal Dublin Society
Royal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society was founded on 25 June 1731 to "to promote and develop agriculture, arts, industry, and science in Ireland". The RDS is synonymous with its main premises in Ballsbridge in Dublin, Ireland...
awarded him two prizes for his flax crop. Around 1800 he moved to County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, where he ran a school until his death. He is buried in Feakle graveyard.
Cúirt An Mheán Oíche
The poem begins by using the conventions of the AislingAisling
The aisling , or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry...
, or vision poem, in which the poet is out walking when he has a vision of a woman from the other world. Typically, this woman is Ireland and the poem will lament her lot and/or call on her 'sons' to rebel against foreign tyranny. In Merriman's hands, the convention is made to take a satirical and deeply ironic twist.
In the opening section of the poem, a hideous female giant appears to the poet and drags him kicking and screaming to the court of Queen Aoibheal
Aibell
As described by Donal O'Sullivan, Aibell "was the Fairy Queen of Thomond in Irish mythology; and her palace, Carraig Liath or The Grey Rock, is a hill overlooking the Shannon about a mile and a half above Killaloe, on the Clare side of the river."She is the principal fairy goddess of the Dál gCais...
of the Fairies. On the way to the ruined monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
at Moinmoy, the messenger explains that the Queen, disgusted by the twin corruptions of Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
landlords and English Law
English law
English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...
, has taken the dispensing of justice upon herself. There follows a traditional court case under the Brehon law form of a three-part debate.
In the first part, a young woman calls on Aoibheal
Aibell
As described by Donal O'Sullivan, Aibell "was the Fairy Queen of Thomond in Irish mythology; and her palace, Carraig Liath or The Grey Rock, is a hill overlooking the Shannon about a mile and a half above Killaloe, on the Clare side of the river."She is the principal fairy goddess of the Dál gCais...
declares her case against the young men of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
for their refusal to marry. She complains that, despite increasingly desperate attempts to capture a husband via intensive flirtation at hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
matches, wake
Wake (ceremony)
A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing...
s, and pattern days
Pattern (devotional)
Pattern is an Irish term meaning either a saint's feast day, or the various devotional activities that take place on the feast day at sites associated with the saint's life. It is thought to derive from the word patron, as in a patron saint....
, the young men insist on ignoring her in favor of late marriages to much older women. The young woman further bewails the contempt with which she is treated by the married women of the village.
She is answered by an old man who first denounces the wanton promiscuity
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
of young women in general, suggesting that the young woman who spoke before was conceived by a Tinker
Irish Traveller
Irish Travellers are a traditionally nomadic people of ethnic Irish origin, who maintain a separate language and set of traditions. They live predominantly in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.-Etymology:...
under a cart. He vividly describes the infidelity
Infidelity
In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...
of his own young wife. He declares his humiliation at finding her already pregnant on their wedding night and the gossip which has surrounded the "premature" birth of "his" son ever since. He disgustedly attacks the dissolute lifestyles of young women in general. Then, however, he declares that there is nothing wrong with his illegitimate children and denounces marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
as "out of date." He demands that the Queen outlaw it altogether and replace it with a system of free love
Free love
The term free love has been used to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage. The Free Love movement’s initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery...
.
The young woman, however, is infuriated by the old' man's words and is barely restrained from physically attacking him. She mocks his inability to fulfill his marital duties with his young wife, saying that she was a homeless beggar who married him to avoid starvation. She vividly argues that if his wife has taken a lover, she well deserves one. She then calls for the abolition of priestly celibacy, alleging that priests would otherwise make wonderful husbands and fathers. In the meantime, however, she will keep trying to attract an older man in hopes that her unmarried humiliation will finally end.
Finally, in the judgement section Queen Aoibheal rules that all laymen must marry before the age of 21, on pain of corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
at the hands of Ireland's women. She advises them to equally target the romantically indifferent, homosexuals, and unmarried skirt chasers who boast of the number of notches on their belts. Aoibheal tells them to be careful, however, not to leave any man unable to father children. She also states that abolishing priestly celibacy is beyond her mandate and counsels patience.
To the poet's horror, the younger woman angrily points him out as a 30-year-old, bachelor
Bachelor
A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...
and describes her many failed attempts to attract his interest in hopes of becoming his wife. She declares that he must be the first man to suffer the consequences of the new marriage law. As a crowd of infuriated women prepares to flog him into a quivering bowl of jelly, he awakens to find it was all a terrible nightmare.
Influence and Legacy
The language of the poem is essentially the everyday Munster IrishMunster Irish
Munster Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Gaeltacht regions in Munster are found in the Dingle Peninsula Gaeltacht of west Kerry, in the Iveragh Peninsula in south Kerry, in Cape Clear Island off the coast of west Cork, in West Muskerry; Coolea,...
of the time. In its frank and satirical treatment of sexuality, ironic parody of the battle of the sexes
Battle of the sexes (game theory)
In game theory, battle of the sexes , also called Bach or Stravinsky, is a two-player coordination game. Imagine a couple that agreed to meet this evening, but cannot recall if they will be attending the opera or a football match. The husband would most of all like to go to the football game. The...
, and its biting social commentary
Social commentary
Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means, or commentary on social issues or society...
,
Cúirt An Mheán Óiche is a unique document in the history of Irish poetry
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...
in either language.
Cúirt An Mheán Oíche was never written down by its author and preserved, like much Gaelic poetry, in an oral format. It was first published in 1850 in an edition by the Irish scholar John O'Daly. In the 20th century, a number of translations have been produced, including notable English versions by Arland Ussher
Arland Ussher
Percival "Percy" Arland Ussher was an Anglo-Irish academic, essayist and translator.Born in Battersea, London, he studied at Cambridge University for some time...
, Frank O'Connor
Frank O'Connor
Frank O’Connor was an Irish author of over 150 works, best known for his short stories and memoirs.-Early life:...
, Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford
Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford
Edward Arthur Henry Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford was an Irish peer, politician, and littérateur.-Family and education:...
, David Marcus
David Marcus
David Marcus was an Irish Jewish editor and writer who was a lifelong advocate and editor of Irish fiction.- Life and times :...
, Ciarán Carson
Ciaran Carson
Ciaran Gerard Carson is a Belfast, Northern Ireland-born poet and novelist.-Early years:Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast into an Irish-speaking family...
, Thomas Kinsella
Thomas Kinsella
Thomas Kinsella is an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher.-Early life and work:Kinsella was born in Lucan, County Dublin. He spent much of his childhood with relatives in rural Ireland. He was educated in the Irish language at the Model School, Inchicore and the O'Connell Christian...
and a partial translation by Seamus Heaney
Seamus 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...
. Brendan Behan
Brendan Behan
Brendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
is believed to have written an unpublished, lost, version. O'Connor's translation, which is perhaps the most popular, was banned in Ireland by the Censorship Board in 1946, because of the sexual frankness of the content.
Cumann Merriman was founded in 1967 to promote the poet's work. They run an annual Merriman Summer School in County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
each August.
In 2005, the Clare County Library released a CD recording of a local seanchai reciting Cúirt An Mheán Óiche in the traditional oral manner. Although it has not been made available for purchase, Cumann Merriman has posted excerpts on their website. For added contrast, the same passages are also reproduced from a modern dramatic reading of the poem.
In recent years, Merriman's poem and other Gaelic satires have heavily influenced the writings of several modern Irish poets like Seamus Heaney
Seamus 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 Thomas Kinsella
Thomas Kinsella
Thomas Kinsella is an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher.-Early life and work:Kinsella was born in Lucan, County Dublin. He spent much of his childhood with relatives in rural Ireland. He was educated in the Irish language at the Model School, Inchicore and the O'Connell Christian...
. Flann O'Brian's metafiction
Metafiction
Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
al novel At Swim Two Birds also shows the influence of Cúirt An Mheán Óiche as well as other works of Irish mythology and literature.
In a 1993 lecture on Merriman's life and work, Seamus Heaney
Seamus 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...
declared,
"Perhaps I can convey the ongoing reality of the poem's life more simply by recollecting a Saturday evening last August when I had the privilege of unveiling a memorial to Brian Merriman on the shore of Lough Graney in Co. Clare, where the opening scene of 'The Midnight Court' is set. The memorial is a large stone quarried from a hill overlooking the lake, and the opening lines are carved on it in IrishIrish languageIrish , 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...
. The people who attended the ceremony were almost all from the local district, and were eager to point out the exact corner of the nearby field where the poet had run his hedge schoolHedge schoolA hedge school is the name given to an educational practice in 18th and 19th century Ireland, so called due to its rural nature. It came about as local educated men began an oral tradition of teaching the community...
, and the spot on the lough shore where he had fallen asleep and had his vision. This was, and is, the first circle where Merriman's poem flourished and continues to flourish. Later that evening, for example, in a marquee a couple of miles down the road, we attended a performance by the Druid Theatre CompanyDruid Theatre CompanyThe Druid Theatre Company, founded in Galway in 1975, was the first Irish professional theatre company to be established outside Dublin. The theatre company was founded by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally after the three had met and put on productions together while members of the...
from Galway in which the poem was given a dramatic presentation with all the boost and blast-off that song and music and topical allusion could provide. Again, hundreds of local people were in the tent, shouting and taking sides like a football crowd, as the old man and the young woman battled it out and the president of the court gave her judgement. The psychosexual demons were no longer at bay but rampant and fully recognised, so that the audience, at the end of the performance, came away from the experience every bit as accused and absolved as the poet himself at the end of his poem. The 'profane perfection of mankind' was going ahead and civilisation was being kept on course; in a ceremony that was entirely convincing and contemporary, OrpheusOrpheusOrpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
has been remembered in Ireland."