Dónal Ó Maoláine, aka Eamon Mhagaine, 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 ...

and

rapparee Rapparees or raparees (from the Irish ''ropairí'', plural of ''ropaire'', whose primary meaning is "thruster, stabber", and by extension a wielder of the half-pike or pike), were Irish guerrilla fighters who operated on the Royalist side dur ...

, fl. 18th century. Ó Maoláine, a native of

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, is described by O'Rourke as a "shadowy figure" who figures in a chanson d'aventure where he is given a letter by the father of a woman who offers to marry him. He refuses, "saying he is bethrothed to another man's daughter, and leaves her lamenting she ever knew him." Subsequent verses reveal that he met her a year ago and that she bore his child. In one version, he is "taken to be a

or an

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

; the theory is supported by a verse (collected in Mayo) which mention's the Queen's pardon" (perhaps indicating the reign of Queen Anne, 1702–14). A concluding verse, when translated, is as follows: Go and marry her then, 'tis little I care about it Ireland is not empty and I'll get another man I know a man who wouldn't ask a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

of a penny with me but would take me in my smock, although I'm no

pauper Pauperism (; ) is the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the Irish and English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally the state of being supported at public expense, within or outside of ...

References

* "County Mayo in Gaelic Folksong",

Brian O'Rourke Sir Brian O'Rourke (; c. 1540 – 1591) was first king and then lord of West Bréifne in the west of Ireland from 1566 until his execution in 1591. He reigned during the later stages of the Tudor conquest of Ireland and his rule was marked by ...

, pp. 180–81, ''Mayo: Aspects of its Heritage'', ed. Bernard O'Hara, 1982. {{DEFAULTSORT:O Maolaine, Donal Irish highwaymen Irish folklore 18th-century Irish-language poets Writers from County Mayo