Eochaidh Ó hÉoghusa (1567–1617) was a well-known Irish
bardic
In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...
poet.
Life
A native of
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
, born probably in (Ballyhoo), in what is now
County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland.
The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...
,
Ó hÉoghusa was employed for much of his life by the Mág Uidhir (
Maguire
Maguire ( , also spelled MacGuire or McGuire) is an Irish surname from the Gaelic , which is "son of Odhar" meaning "dun", "dark one". According to legend, this relates to the eleventh descendant of Colla da Chrich, great-grandson of Cormac ma ...
) chiefs of
Fermanagh
Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...
.
Among his most well-known works are several poems included in the
Leabhar Branach
The Leabhar Branach (), also called the (Poem) Book of the O'Byrnes is an Early Modern Irish anthology of poetry collected in the early 17th century. It consists of poetry in praise of the O'Byrne family, who ruled a region known as ''Gabhal Ra ...
, a literary compendium of mostly Gaelic poets of
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
,
dedicated to the
O'Byrne chiefs of
Wicklow
Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...
who "by their success in maintaining the independence and integrity of their mountainous territory against great odds until the final collapse, they were in a position to attract poets of repute from distant parts of Ireland."
Selected works
Some of his compositions include:
*
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See also
*
Filí
The filí (singular: file) were members of an elite class of Irish poetry, poets in Ireland and Scottish Poetry, Scotland, up until the English Renaissance, Renaissance.
Etymology
The word "file" is thought to derive from the Proto-Celtic '' ...
, the elite bardic poet class of
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland ( ga, Éire Ghaelach) was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late prehistoric era until the early 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Normans co ...
*
Aodh Mág Uidhir, Lord of Fermanagh, and a patron of Ó hÉoghusa
References
Further reading
* ''Filíocht Ghrá na Gaeilge/Love Poems in Irish'' (eag/ed.) Ciarán Mac Murchaidh, 2008;
* ''
An Leabhar Mòr
''An Leabhar Mòr'', subtitled ''The Great Book of Gaelic'', is a celebration of the modern Celtic muse. Published in 2002 by Proiseact nan Ealan (the Gaelic Arts Agency), it contains an anthology of poetry in Irish and Scottish Gaelic from the ...
/The Great Book of Gaelic'', ed.
Theo Dorgan
Theo Dorgan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer, translator, librettist and documentary screenwriter.
He lives in Dublin.
Life
Dorgan was born in Cork in 1953 being second child born into a family of 8 boys and 8 girls to pare ...
and Malcolm Maclean, 2008.
External links
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts*
{{DEFAULTSORT:O Heoghusa, Eochaidh
Irish poets
1567 births
1617 deaths
Irish-language poets
16th-century Irish writers
17th-century Irish writers
17th-century Irish poets
People of Elizabethan Ireland