Background and career

Flann mac Lonáin was a famed and at times controversial poet. He was the Chief Ollam of Ireland

Chief Ollam of Ireland

The Ollamh Érenn or Chief Ollam of Ireland was a professional title of Gaelic Ireland.-Background:An ollam was a poet or bard of literature and history. Each chief or tuath had its own ollam...

 He seems to have being born in the east 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...

/west Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

 region. Distinguished both in his lifetime and after, his compositions were studied and used as exemplars in medieval metrical tracts.

Annalistic verse

The Annals of the Four Masters

Annals of the Four Masters

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

 contains two verses of a lament

Lament

A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.-History:Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by...

 he composed upon the death of Treasach, son of Becan, chief of Ui Bairche Maighe, [who]was slain by Aedh, son of Ilguine in 884:

Of him Flann, son of Lonan, said:

• A heavy mist upon the province of Breasal/since they slew at the fortaliced Liphe/Heavy the groans of Assal/for grief at the loss of Treasach.

• Wearied my mind, moist my countenance/since Treasach lies in death./The moan of Oenach Lifi all/and of Leinster to the sea, is the son of Becan.

Upon the death of Ceallach mac Flannaghan, King of Brega

Kings of Brega

-Overview:Brega took its name from Mag Breg, the plain of Brega, in modern County Meath, County Louth and County Dublin, Ireland. They formed part of the Uí Néill kindred, belonging to the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Uí Néill. The kingdom of Brega included the Hill of Tara, the site...

 in 890, he composed the following:

• Illustrious the careers/of the three sons of Flann/who coursed over Odhbha/Congalach of Colt/Ceallach of Cearna/and Cinaedh of Cnodhbha.

• Though Ceallach slew/an outlaw, pity/he should fall in the battle's onset;/Alas!/his danger was certain;/ that he would not spend/the life of a historian.

Death

He died violently. The Annals of Ulster

Annals of Ulster

The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...

 state that:

• Flann son of Lónán grandson of Guaire, was slain by the Déisi of Mumu.

while the Annals of Innisfallen notes;

• The slaying of Flann son of Lonán, king of the poets of Ireland, by the Uí Fhothaid Tíre.

while the Chronicon Scotorum

Chronicon Scotorum

Chronicon Scotorum is a medieval Irish chronicle.According to Nollaig Ó Muraíle, it is "a collection of annals belonging to the 'Clonmacnoise group', covering the period from prehistoric times to 1150 but with some gaps, closely related to the 'Annals of Tigernach'...

 more fulsomly records that;

• Flann son of Lónán, the Virgil
  Virgil
  Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
  
   of the Irish i.e. the chief poet of the Irish, was slain by the Uí Cuirrbuidh i.e. by the Uí Fothaid, at Loch dá Caoch in the Déisi
  Déisi
  The Déisi were a class of peoples in ancient and medieval Ireland. The term is Old Irish, and derives from the word déis, meaning "vassal" or "subject"; in its original sense, it designated groups who were vassals or rent-payers to a landowner. Later, it became a proper name for certain septs and...
  
   of Mumu
  Munster
  Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
  
  .

In his posthumously-published work, The Irish Tradition (1946), Robin Flower

Robin Flower

Robin Ernest William Flower was an English poet and scholar, a Celticist, Anglo-Saxonist and translator from the Irish language. He is commonly known in Ireland as "Bláithín" . He married Ida Mary Streeter.-Life:...

 wrote at some length of him and the legends surrounding his life.

Flann is mentioned in the oldest surviving personal letter from Ireland, which dates from the mid 12th century and was addressed to Áed Ua Crimthainn

Áed Ua Crimthainn

Áed Ua Crimthainn , also called Áed mac Crimthainn, was abbot and coarb of Terryglass , near Lough Derg in County Tipperary, Ireland...

, compiler of the Book of Leinster

Book of Leinster

The Book of Leinster , is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled ca. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18...

, by Find, Bishop of Kildare

Bishop of Kildare

The Bishop of Kildare was an episcopal title which took its name after the town of Kildare in County Kildare, Ireland. The title is no longer in use by any of the main Christian churches having been united with other bishoprics. In the Roman Catholic Church, the title has been merged with that of...

, who wrote: "Let the poem book of Mac Lonáin be brought to me so that we may study the meanings of the poems that are in it, et vale in Christo.

External links

• http://www.archive.org/stream/historyandantiq01fahegoog/historyandantiq01fahegoog_djvu.txt