Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin (; 'Red

aired Air is the name given to the atmosphere of Earth. Air or AIR may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''Air'' (Maillol), a sculpture by Aristide Maillol * ''Air'' (painting), a painting by Jan van Kessel the Elder Films * ''Air'' ...

Thomas O'Sullivan'; also spelled ''Ruadh''; 1785–1848) was an

Irish-language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenou ...

poet of the 19th century. A native of

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, Ireland, he was a close friend and ally of Irish Catholic political leader

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

Early life

Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin was born in 1785 in Banard (An Bán Ard),

Derrynane Derrynane, officially Darrynane (), is a small village in the civil parish of Kilcrohane in County Kerry, Ireland. It is located on the Iveragh peninsula, just off the N70 national primary road near Caherdaniel on the shores of Derrynane Bay. ...

, County Kerry to an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

family. His father may have been named Tadhg Ó Súilleabháin and was related to the poet

Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin (174829 June 1784), anglicized as Owen Roe O'Sullivan ("Red Owen"), was an Irish poet. He is known as one of the last great Gaelic poets. A recent anthology of Irish-language poetry speaks of his "extremely musical" p ...

(1748–1784). He went to a school in Gort na Cille, and was educated as a teacher in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, maybe that of the Kildare Place Society.

Career

Ó Súilleabháin worked as a

hedge school Hedge schools ( Irish names include '' scoil chois claí'', ''scoil ghairid'' and ''scoil scairte'') were small informal secret and illegal schools, particularly in 18th-century Ireland, teaching the rudiments of primary education to children ...

teacher in

Caherdaniel Caherdaniel () is a village and townland in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located on the Iveragh peninsula on the Ring of Kerry. It is on the southwestern side of the peninsula, facing onto Derrynane Bay, at a T-junction on the N70 ...

; a hedge school was an illegal school that taught Catholics and Presbyterian children, as only

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

(

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

) schools were permitted in Ireland at the time. In one poem he complains about getting paid just sixpence a quarter by his pupils. After getting a job in

Portmagee Portmagee () is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. The village is located on the Iveragh peninsula south of Valentia Island and is known locally as 'the ferry', in reference to its purpose as a crossing point to the island. Access to Valentia Is ...

, he sent on all his books and papers on a boat from

Goleen Goleen () is a small rural village in County Cork on the south-western tip of Ireland. Farming, tourism and construction work are among the main occupations of the local people. Location Goleen is located towards the south-western end of the ...

, only for the boat to sink. This inspired one of his most famous works, "Amhrán ne Leabhar" ('song of the books'), also called "Cuan Bhéil Inse" ('Valentia Harbour'). It gives an insight into the kind of literature used by hedge schoolmaster:

Euclid Euclid (; ; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely domina ...

Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (, ; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor (), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, Roman Senate, senator, and Roman historiography, historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He wa ...

, the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, the

Psalter of Cashel The Psalter of Cashel () is a now-lost Irish manuscript, which seems to have been highly influential in Irish historiographical tradition. Not an actual Psalter, it seems to have contained Munster-orientated genealogies, king-lists, synchronisms, a ...

and ''

Foras Feasa ar Éirinn ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' – literally 'Foundation of Knowledge on Ireland', but most often known in English as 'The History of Ireland' – is a narrative history of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating, written in Irish and completed .Bernadette Cun ...

'' are all mentioned. He also composed an

air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

on the

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

for "Amhrán na Leabhar," which is still popular. While sick with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

he wrote the hymn "A Rí an Domhnaigh" ('O King of Sunday'). A supporter and friend of

, after O'Connell won the

1828 Clare by-election The 1828 Clare (UK Parliament constituency), Clare by-election was notable as this was the first time since the reformation that an openly Roman Catholic MP, Daniel O'Connell was elected. The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793 had extended the franc ...

, Ó Súilleabháin wrote "Guím slán go hUíbh Ráthach" ('I wish farewell to

Iveragh The Iveragh Peninsula () is located in County Kerry in Ireland. It is the largest peninsula in southwestern Ireland. A mountain range, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, lies in the centre of the peninsula. Carrauntoohil, its highest mountain, is als ...

') and "Is é Donall binn Ó Conaill caoin" ('He is sweet and gentle Daniel O'Connell'). Another well-known

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...

mocks two Protestant men for not keeping Catholic fasts.

Death and legacy

Ó Súilleabháin died in 1848 during the Great Famine of 1845–50 and was buried at Derrynane Abbey. Some of his last poems were about the Famine. He never married and had no children. A collection of his work, ''Amhráin Thomáis Ruaidh'' ('Songs of Red Thomas'), was first published in 1914 (compiled by James Fenton) and republished in 1985. A memorial plaque was erected in 1928.

References

External links

The songs of Tomás Ruadh O'Sullivan, the Iveragh poet, 1785-1848
on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:osuilleabhain, tomas 1785 births 1848 deaths 19th-century Irish-language poets People from the Iveragh Peninsula Writers from County Kerry Irish-language writers