Diarmuid Mac Muireadhaigh, sometimes known in English as Dermot McMurray, 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 A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, alive in the late 17th century.

Biography

Mac Muireadhaigh is believed to be the composer of a 23 verse poem in honour of

Gordon O'Neill Colonel Gordon O'Neill, was an officer in King James II's Irish army who fought at the Siege of Derry, the Battle of the Boyne, and the Battle of Aughrim for the Jacobites. Birth and origins Gordon was born, about 1650 or about 1652 a ...

, an officer who fought for the army of

King James II James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

during the Jacobite War in Ireland. It is typically known by its opening line of "''Gluaisigh ribh a ghlac rannsa ...''". The poem is described by

Paul Walsh Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

as being "addressed to him 'Neillbefore the stirring times of his last years in Ireland", suggesting that it was written sometime in the 1680s. No other details of Mac Muireadhaigh appear to be known, although a man of his surname was killed in action at the

Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim ( ga, Cath Eachroma) was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Jacobite army loyal to James II and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 (old style, equivale ...

in 1691, and was grandfather of Séamus Mór Mac Mhurchaidh, poet and outlaw, who was executed in 1750.

Poem

The first four verses of the ''Gluaisigh ribh a ghlac rannsa'' poem commence as:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Muireadhaigh, Diarmuid 17th-century Irish-language poets Writers from County Armagh