Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh ("Scottish Muireadhach") was a

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

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 writte ...

and

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

r and member of the

Ó Dálaigh The Ó Dálaigh () were a learned Irish Bardic poetry, bardic family who first came to prominence early in the 12th century, when Cú Connacht Ó Dálaigh was described as "The first ''Ollamh'' of poetry in all Ireland" (''ollamh'' is the title g ...

bardic family.

Early career

'' The Annals of the Four Masters of Ireland'', s.a. 1213, tells us that he was the

ollamh An or ollamh (; anglicised as ollave or ollav), plural ollomain, in early Irish literature, is a member of the highest rank of filí. The term is used to refer to the highest member of any group; thus an ''ollam brithem'' would be the highes ...

(high poet) of Domhnall Ó Domhnaill (died 1241). Muireadhach lived in

Lissadell Lissadell () is the name attached to three townlands in north County Sligo on Magherow peninsula west of Benbulben. Until the late 16th century Lissadell was part of the tuath of Cairbre Drom Cliabh under the Lords of Sligo, Ó Conchobhair Sligi ...

Cairbre Drom Cliabh Cairbre Drom Cliabh (meaning "Ui Cairbre (the descendants of Cairbre mac Néill, Cairbre) of Drumcliff"), was an Irish ''túath'' in the ancient confederation of Íochtar Connacht (Lower Connacht), now County Sligo in the west of Ireland. It is no ...

, now

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

and fled from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

after killing King Domhnall's tax-collector Fionn Ó Brolacháin, whom Muireadhach considered had been insolent, with an axe. In a poem, Ó Dálaigh dismisses his murder as his victim was a mere commoner and therefore of no account, a telling indication of the rigid stratification of traditional Irish society: Trifling is our difference with the man, A shepherd was affronting me; And I killed that clown; O God! Is this a cause for enmity?

Career in Scotland

Nevertheless, it was in Scotland that Muireadhach made his name. He served as the court bard to the

Mormaer of Lennox The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the region of the Lennox in western Scotland. It was first created in the 12th century for David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and later held by the Stewart dynasty. Ancient earls The first earl ...

. The specific

mormaer In early Middle Ages, medieval Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, a mormaer was the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the Kings of Scots, King of Scots, and the senior of a ''Toísech'' (chi ...

who patronized him is often thought to have been Ailín II (died 1217), but as the mormaer is called "Mac Muireadhach", son of Muireadhach, it was almost certainly in fact his predecessor and father, Ailín I (died c. 1200). Muireadhach Albanach is important for the cultural history of Scotland because he is the alleged founder of the family of hereditary Scottish bards known to history as the '' Mac Mhuireadhaich'' or "MacVurich" family.

The Fifth Crusade

Muireadhach, like his fellow Gaelic poet Gillebrìghde Albanach, went on the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al-Adil, brother of Sala ...

and travelled to

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

and

Damietta Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...

(as well as other places, like

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

). In 1228 he was apparently allowed to re-enter

.MacQuarrie, ''op. cit.'', p. 39.

Notes

References

* O'Daly, Edmund Emmet, ''History of the O'Dalys'' (Tuttle Morehouse & Taylor Publ. Co., New Haven, Conn., USA, 1937) * Thomson, Professor Derick, ''The MacMhurich bardic family'' in ''Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness'' 43 (1960–63) * Gillies, William, ''A Death-bed poem ascribed to Muireadhach Albanach'', ''Celtica'' 21 (1990) * MacQuarrie, Alan, ''Scotland and the Crusades'', (Edinburgh, 1997) * Clancy, Thomas Owen (ed.), ''The Triumph Tree: Scotland's Earliest Poetry, 550–1350'', (Edinburgh, 1998) * McLeod, Wilson, ''Divided Gaels: Gaelic Cultural Identities in Scotland and Ireland, c. 1200-1650'', (Oxford, 2004) *Mangan, J.C. (trans.) (1852) ''The Tribes of Ireland: a Satire.'' by Aenghus O'Daly, with poetical tr. by J. C. Mangan; together with An historical account of the family of O'Daly; and an introduction to the history of satire in Ireland, by J. O'Donovan, Dublin

External links

''The Annals of the Four Masters of Ireland'', s.a. 1213
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:O Dalaigh, Muireadhach Albanach People from County Sligo 12th-century births 13th-century deaths Christians of the Fifth Crusade Irish-language writers Medieval Irish poets Scottish literature 13th-century Irish writers Irish expatriates in Scotland Irish religious writers Irish male poets