Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh was an Irish poet and master of the Irish classical style called

Dán Díreach Dán Díreach (; Irish for "direct verse") is a style of poetry developed in Ireland from the 12th century until the destruction of the Irish clan system, Gaelic Ireland and the Bardic schools during the mid 17th-century. It was a complex form of ...

, who died in

1244 Year 1244 (Roman numerals, MCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March 16 – Siege of Montségur: French forces capture and destroy Château de Montségur in Languedoc, after ...

. Mor is the Irish word for ''"great"''.

Family background

Donnchadh Mór was a 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 ...

family of poets. Donnchadh Mór was the second of six brothers, one of whom was Muireadhach Albanach, also a poet. Authorities O'Reilly and O'Curry considered that he was Abbot of Boyle Abbey, County Roscommon, Ireland.

Reputation

The annals of Clonmacnois describe him as "Chief in Ireland for poetry". He was styled the 'Irish

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

' due to the quality of his verse. In recording his death, in 1244, the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

describes him as "a poet who never was and never will be surpassed".

Finvarra

Donnchadh Mór settled at Finnyvara (or Finavara) in the Burren region of

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, Ireland. Today a hexagonal brick-built columnar monument stands outside Finavara on the coast by Pouldoody Bay as a monument to him, opposite the supposed ruined poetry school of the Ó Dálaigh's. The Ó Dálaighs occupied a rock seat nearby termed the 'Brehon's Chair' used for open air courts in ancient times and they may be buried in the mound below the monument. O'Donovan in a note to the

states that ''according to tradition preserved in the north of the County Clare he was the head of the O'Dalys of Finnyvara in the north of Burrin where they still point out the site of his house and his monument.'' The Ó Dálaigh's of Finnyvara were

hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

poets to the Ó Lochlainn's of Burren.

Poems

Donnchadh Mór is known to have written about 30 poems. Donnchadh Mór's poems were listed in ''The History of the O'Dalys'' by Edmund Emmet O'Daly, published in 1937 by the Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor Company of New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Selected poems

* * * * * * * * * * * + * + * + * + * + * + * , attributed to Flann Mainistreach + + ''A Bardic Miscellany: Five Hundred Bardic poems from manuscripts in Irish and British libraries'', edited by Damian McManus and Eoghan Ó Raghallaigh, Trinity Irish Studies, Dublin, 2010.

Family Tree I

In the introduction to ''The Tribes of Ireland'' by Aonghus Ruadh na nAor Ó Dálaigh, the editors give the following family tree. Adhamh, a quo Corca Adhamh of

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

, , Corc , , Fachtna , , Dalach, a quo Ua Dálaigh , , Gilla Coimhdheadh , , Tadhg ua Dálaigh , , Muireadhach Ua Dálaigh , , Dalach Ua Dálaigh , , Cú Connacht Ua Dálaigh, died 1139. , , Tadhg Doichleach Ua Dálaigh, died 1181. , , Aonghus Ó Dálaigh, ''the common ancestor of all the O'Dalys extant'' , , ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ , , , , , , , , , , , , Cearbhall Fionn Donnchadh Mór Cormac na Casbhairne Muireadhach Albanach Gilla na Naemh Tadhg , , (issue) , , , , , , , Ua Dálaigh Fionn Ua Dálaigh Ua Dálaigh of Duhallow of Finvarra of Breifne Co. Cork. Co. Clare and Dunsandle Co. Galway

Family Tree II

Donnchadh Mór mac Aonghus meic Tadhg Doichleach Ó Dálaigh of Finvarra, died 1244. , , Aonghus , , Donnchadh Ruadh , , Aonghus Ruadh Ó Dálaigh, died 1350. , , ___________________________________ , , , , Tadhg, d. 1367. Lochlainn, died 1367. , , , , Fearghal Ó Dálaigh, chief poet Donn of Corcomroe, fl. 1420. , , Doighre , , Donn , , Mael Sechlainn , , John , , Tadhg , , Diarmuid , , Aedh of Finnvarra.

External links

* http://www.ucc.ie/celt/itbardic.html#dmod

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O Dalaigh, Donnchadh Mor Writers from County Meath 12th-century births 1244 deaths 13th-century deaths 13th-century Irish writers Irish religious writers 13th-century Irish poets Irish male poets Irish-language writers