Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna (c. 1680 – 1756; Anglicised as ''Yellow-haired Charles McElgunn'') was an Irish

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Biography

Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna is one of the four most prominent south

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and north

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

poets in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He has been described as an incisive ballad singing entertainer for a totally Irish-speaking community of poor people living at or below subsistence in the early 18th century. He was one of a school of ballad poetry that included Peadar Ó Doirnín, Art Mac Cumhaigh, and Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta. Mac Giolla Ghunna was probably born in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

and, having initially studied to be a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

, settled for a career as a rake-poet. It has been remarked about his poetry that 'of the handful of poems attributed to him, most are marked by a rare humanity, but none can match '' An Bonnán Buí'' ''(The Yellow Bittern)'' with its finely-judged blend of pathos and humour'. Although "Cathal Buí", as he is still affectionately termed in the folklore of Bréifne, is now little known in Ireland, his masterpiece '' An Bonnán Buí'' is one of the best known songs in Irish. "An Bonnán Buí" was based at Lough MacNean, which is situated between Fermanagh, Cavan and Leitrim. A monument in his honour, on the shores of Lough MacNean, was unveiled by

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (; 12 February 1911 – 21 March 1978) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976. His birth name was registered in English as ' ...

in 1975. He is buried in Donaghmoyne, Co. Monaghan. A study of the Bréifne school of poetry is forthcoming from Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin. The memory of Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna is celebrated annually in his homeland – Blacklion (Cavan) and Belcoo (Fermanagh). The latest iteration of this celebration is the Macnean Hedge School - The Cathalbui summer school was founded in 1998 and became the Cathalbui Festival in 2008. The current celebration of Cathalbui's memory, the Macnean Hedge School, incorporates the annual Cathalbui poetry competition and a study of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's work, ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

''. The Hedge School programme will not change.Féile Chathal Buí
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Biography

References

See also