Mael Ísu Ua Brolcháin (died 1086), Irish churchman and writer.

Biography

A member of a high-class ecclesiastical family in what is now Donegal, "genealogical sources give his father as Máel Brigte and his three brothers as Áed, Diarmait, and Muirecan." Besides holding a number of benefices and wielding considerable political influence, he was the author of the poem ''To an Elderly Virgin''. He died as a member of the religious community of Armagh in 1086, recorded as being ''the chief sage of Ireland.'' Members of his lineage served as

Bishop of Derry The Bishop of Derry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the monastic settlement originally founded at Daire Calgach and later known as Daire Colm Cille, Anglicised as Derry. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, b ...

Works

His best-known work is a Latin and Irish hymn, Deus Meus Adiuva Me.Máel Ísu Ua Brolcháin - Deus Meus, Adiuva Me http://omniumsanctorumhiberniae.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/mael-isu-ua-brolchain-deus-meus-adiuva.html Here are the modern Irish lyrics. For a translation by Professor Gerard Murphy of this well-loved piece see link below: Deus meus adiuva me Tabhair dom do shearch, a Mhic ghil Dé Tabhair dom do shearch, a Mhic ghil Dé Deus meus adiuva me. Domine da quod peto a te, Tabhair dom go dian a ghrian ghlan ghlé, Tabhair dom go dian a ghrian ghlan ghlé, Domine da quod peto a te. Domine, Domine, exaudi me, M’anam bheith lán de d’ghrá, a Dhé, M’anam bheith lán de d’ghrá, a Dhé, Domine, Domine exaudi me. For translation se
Deus Meus, Adiuva Me
and liv
version sung with harp

References

Sources

* pp. 48–50; 396, ''The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse'', edited, with translations, by

Thomas Kinsella Thomas Kinsella (4 May 192822 December 2021) was an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher. Born outside Dublin, Kinsella attended University College Dublin before entering the civil service. He began publishing poetry in the early 1950s ...

, 1986. 11th-century Irish priests 1086 deaths Irish Christian monks 11th-century Irish writers People from County Donegal 11th-century Irish poets Year of birth unknown Irish male poets Medieval Gaels from Ireland Irish-language writers {{Christianity-bio-stub