Colm de Bhailís (2 May 1796 – 27 February 1906) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
poet, songwriter, stonemason and centenarian who lived to be 109 years old.
Biography
De Bhailís was from
Lettermullen,
Connemara
Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...
. A stonemason who traveled extensively throughout Ireland, he is believed to have lived for some time in
Kilrush, County Clare, and
Westport, County Mayo
Westport (, historically anglicised as ''Cahernamart'') is a town in County Mayo in Ireland.Westport Before 1800 by Michael Kelly published in Cathair Na Mart 2019 It is at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on th ...
. ''Amhrán a Tei'' and ''Cúirt a tSruthán Bhuí'', were the best-known of the at least seventeen poems he is known to have written. He is recorded living at the poorhouse at
Cregg, Oughterard. County Galway in the
British census of 1901 as simply CW, aged 105. (Wallace being the anglicised version of his surname).
Thanks to the efforts of
Pádraig Pearse and
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...
he was moved from the poorhouse to lodge with the O'Toole family, Main Street, Oughterard. He lived until he was 109 years old, falling a few months shy of supercentenarian status, and was buried in Oughterard's Kilcummin Old Cemetery.
Personal life and death
He was twice a widower. His second wife, Úna, died around 1900. He had a son by his first wife, Siobhán Frainc Ní Lochlainn. The boy was baptised Tomás and died in 1877, aged twenty-two.
Bibliography
*''Amhrán Chuilm de Bhailís'' (1904), ed. by
J.H. Lloyd, with notices by
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...
and
Pádraig Pearse.
References
External links
*https://www.ainm.ie/Bio.aspx?ID=11
*https://www.ainm.ie/Bio.aspx?ID=11
*http://www.oughterardheritage.org/content/people/colm_de_bhails
Profile anghaeltacht.net; accessed 22 July 2017.
Profile jstor.org; accessed 22 July 2017.
*
1796 births
1906 deaths
19th-century Irish-language poets
Irish centenarians
Irish poets
Irish male songwriters
Men centenarians
People from County Galway
Stonemasons
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