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 {{Ireland-writer-stub