Irish composer Eoghan Desmond’s cantata Amra Choluim Chille (2019) sets the blind poet Dallán Forgaill’s eulogy in praise of St Columba, which is thought to have been written after the death of the saint in ce 597. Premiered by Chamber Choir Ireland in March 2023, the work for choir, strings, harp and percussion makes a significant contribution to Irish-language choral repertoire and represents the only complete choral-orchestral setting of this text. Although the piece is solely in the Irish language and contains elements of traditional musical idioms, the music is not bound to the traditional style, instead drawing on historical and contemporary musical influences to bring Columba’s story to a modern audience. Desmond’s melodic motifs, textural and modal structures, and symbolic devices suggest a deep understanding of Dallán’s text, and the purposeful synthesis of ancient and contemporary musical styles. This article explores the key compositional techniques that bring the ancient poem to life, focusing on Desmond’s significant use of the St Columba hymn tune, traditional musical features and symbolism, as well as his combination of historical and contemporary musical processes, to convey the sacred narrative in a compelling musical manner.
The list presented here forms a promptuarium or brief repository of detail on the poets, writers and scholars from the territory historically known as Thomond ( Tuadhmhumhain ). The list is neither exhaustive nor complete, but rather is a circumscribed enumeration of entries that draw from references in the annals, manuscripts and prose texts. The list is presented here in chronological form and entries are restricted to summary details of chief literary works, the location of scholarly individuals (if known) and other relevant particulars. The purpose of presenting this list is to aid the general reader and researcher alike in identifying individuals who contributed to the classical Irish literary tradition from the early medieval period to the beginning of the twentieth century. The compilation of lists of Irish poets and scholars has a long pedigree and can be traced to medieval author-lists. While much labour has been expended on past endeavours to produce a comprehensive listing of the literati of Ireland, what is attempted here is a more limited endeavour. The scope of this list is confined to the literati of Thomond and whose literary work—or whose role as manuscript custodians, scribes or amanuenses—contributed to, or in some way helped forward, the classical Irish literary tradition. This list stands as a modern contribution to the venerable tradition of listing the Irish literati and their works.
Old Irish law tracts provide valuable insights into the practice of medicine in Ireland during the early medieval period. While the focus of the law texts relating to medicine was predominantly medico-legal, with an emphasis on computing compensation for injury, an understanding of contemporary medical practice can also be inferred from such texts. Male and female practitioners used herbs and surgery to treat their patients and supervised nursing care with a particular emphasis on diet. Physicians also provided an all-important public prognosis for the patient. The nature of the injury, the probable outcome and the status of the victim determined the level of compensation to be paid by the guilty party. Practitioners were also sometimes called upon to adjudicate in intimate and marital affairs. Synthesising information gleaned from the Old Irish law tracts, this article provides a unique insight into medicine in early medieval Ireland in terms of the status of physicians, known medical knowledge and contemporary practice.
Ar an bheagán leabhar Gaeilge faoin Afraic Theas, tá Commando (1938), aistriúchán le Niall Ó Domhnaill ar Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War le Deneys Reitz, agus An Aifric Theas (1947), bunleabhar faisnéise le hÉamonn Mac Giolla Iasachta. Ba é an Gúm, an brainse foilsitheoireachta Gaeilge den Roinn Oideachais a d’fhoilsigh an dá shaothar. Is díol suime na leabhair féin: an cuntas lán de ghníomhartha gaile agus gaisce le hógfhear a raibh lámh aige i gCogadh na mBórach in Commando , cuntas a foilsíodh ag am nuair ba ann go fóill do dhearcadh rómánsúil in Éirinn faoi na hAfracánaigh a thug dúshlán impireacht na Breataine ag tús an fichiú haois; agus, in An Aifric Theas , an cuntas finné súl ar an Afraic Theas sna 1930idí le húdar a raibh ceangail teaghlaigh aige leis an tír. Ach faoi mar a léiríonn an t-alt seo, caitheann scéal fhoilsiú an dá théacs Gaeilge, agus cinneadh an Ghúim ábhar a bhaint de scríbhinní na leabhar, solas ar an chumann chigilteach a bhí ag Rialtas na hÉireann le Rialtas Aontas na hAfraice Theas idir na 1920idí agus na 1940idí.
David (Davy) Rees, a London-born actor, quickly endeared himself to Irish audiences when he appeared on the Dublin theatre scene in November 1830. His career flourished as a comedian, with Irish audiences embracing his talent for low comedy—a demanding genre—requiring not only acting skills, but also the ability to sing and dance. Michael Booth describes the low comedian as a ‘farce actor … who was energetically ludicrous or phlegmatically droll, and the helpless victim of chance and misunderstanding’, a description that perfectly fits Rees’s style. 1 Excelling in this role, Rees established a unique rapport with his audience. His comedy relied on simple, yet effective, gestures—a well-timed wink or a specific action that could send spectators into fits of uncontrollable laughter. Contemporary accounts highlight his extraordinary ability to leave audiences ‘convulsed with laughter’ and maintain the theatre ‘in continuous roars of laughter’ so intense that spectators ‘laughed until [they] forgot what [they] came for’. 2 These qualities exemplified the essential traits of successful comic actors of the period, and Rees embodied them with remarkable skill. 3 However, Davy Rees’s legacy as an actor transcends his comedic performances. His career serves as a valuable lens for understanding the complexities of performance art within its historical context. His life and work encompass historical, cultural and social dimensions that are essential for understanding Ireland’s theatrical heritage. Rees’s story provides insight into early nineteenth-century Irish theatre, its audiences, the challenges faced by performers and managers and the theatre’s pivotal role in reflecting and shaping the cultural values of the era.
Presented here is a transcription and translation of a late sixteenth-century poem by ollamh Maoilín Óg Mac Bruaideadha on the historical migration of the Clann Ghormáin from Leinster to Thomond, where they settled in Ibrickan under new overlords, the Uí Bhriain. From these beginnings, Clann Ghormáin advanced themselves to a prominent position in the lordship of Thomond, which lasted until the loss of their estates in the mid-seventeenth century. An analysis of the seanchas-genealogy elements of the poem by Maoilín Óg alongside evidence contained in contemporary administrative records reveals the landholdings, proprietorial status and familial relationships of this important Gaelic Irish lineage.
A previously unrecognised motif, that of ‘the relinquished cloak’, is identified in Buile Shuibhne and compared with instances in a twelfth-century English source and in the Old and New Testaments.
To date, there is no linguistic map or table available that provides us with a microscopic comparative distribution of the independent form of the present indicative for the pan-Gaelic area as a whole. Quite a few such detailed tables exist for Gaelic Scotland (§5) but none for Gaelic Ireland. In addition to providing a synchronic distribution of bíonn ‘is wont to be’ for most dialects in Ireland (Appendix 1), bithidh ‘will be’ in Scotland, and bee/vees in Manx, this article further seeks to analyse on a diachronic level the evidence provided for these particular verbal forms by two of the most significantly detailed comparative monuments to Gaelic linguistic heritage: (1) Heinrich Wagner’s Linguistic atlas ; (2) Cathair Ó Dochartaigh’s Survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland . 1
George Calder’s 1922 edition of the Middle Irish translation of Statius’ Latin epic the Thebaid was published under the title Togail na Tebe: The Thebaid of Statius. The Irish Text . This article examines manuscripts, manuscript catalogues, and the reviews of Calder’s edition to demonstrate that the title Togail na Tebe (‘The Destruction of Thebes’) was the editor’s own creation. The reasons behind Calder’s choice of a title are explored, and an argument is put forward as to how this title has informed approaches to the Middle Irish version of the Thebaid in modern literary criticism; in particular, in making connections to the medieval Irish literary genre togla (‘destructions’) evidenced in the medieval Irish Tale-Lists A and B. Other possibilities for a tale-title to this narrative are considered before it is recommended that modern scholars refer instead to this text as the Middle Irish Thebaid .
This article seeks to trace the changing attitudes to the administration of corporal punishment to children, apprentices and servants in Ireland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Informed by the conviction derived from the Biblical injunction that ‘whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him’ (Proverbs 13:24), parents, guardians, masters and others long believed that it was necessary routinely to punish their charges. Much of the corporal punishment that was resorted to was applied with ‘due management’, but the prevailing permissive attitude also facilitated its injurious use. This article is grounded in a series of such instances spanning the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, beginning with the failure to pursue the prosecution of Lady Frances Gore in 1711 for the death of her son, Robert, and continuing with sequence of cases that did proceed to trial. These permit the conclusion, commencing with the trial in 1762 of Vere and Neale Molloy for the abuse of their daughter, Sarah, that the combination of the preparedness of the law courts to hand down severe sentences and the disapproval of the public heralded an increased awareness of the issue before the end of the eighteenth century. This was insufficient to eradicate fatal and abusive punishment. However, mounting public disapproval in the nineteenth century of the mistreatment of apprentices, servants and children encouraged the newly established police to prosecute and the courts to penalise those who were responsible. It had less impact on the administration of corporal punishment in the school or the home, but the gradual acceptance that masters, mistresses were not entitled to beat apprentices and servants not just reduced the contexts where corporal punishment was permissible, it contributed to the appreciating sense that it was efficacious only when it was properly administered.
This article will place escapes during the War of Independence into the context of both the revolution as a whole and the specific context of political imprisonment. It examines the reasons the IRA engaged in escapes and how they sought to effect them. It also investigates the impact escapes had on prison staff, how the actions of staff influenced the outcome of an escape attempt, and how escapes affected the staff–management relationship within the prison service. Escapes provided numerous benefits for the IRA and the nationalist cause, ranging from material to symbolic benefits, and they were often successful thanks to various facilitating factors. For prison staff, escapes built on the demoralising effect the presence of political prisoners generally had: they increased tensions and provoked confrontations within the prison service; exposed serious deficiencies in the ability of some staff; and exhibited the impossibility of enforcing safe and secure custody in the ameliorated and highly charged atmosphere of Irish prisons. This is the first research that analyses escapes during the War of Independence collectively, and establishes that escapes were more than simply another IRA operation and another failing of Dublin Castle’s response to the nationalist movement. Instead, escapes reflect broader themes and factors that overshadow the Irish revolution in general.
Historians have, for the most part, overlooked the rebuilding of the Abbey Theatre after its 1951 destruction by fire, a neglect that this article sets out to redress. Debates about rebuilding the Abbey had begun before the fire. The conversations that occurred then, conversations in which Ernest Blythe played an active part, are important to understanding what happened in the years after 1951. Having outlined that context, this article examines the pivotal and underappreciated role played by the Abbey’s managing director Ernest Blythe in securing the reconstruction of the new theatre. Blythe’s familiarity with government proved to be a precious asset in the theatre’s reconstruction, a feat achieved amid some of the most arduous economic conditions in the state’s history. In the fifteen years between the fire and the opening of the new theatre, Blythe liaised with four different governments about the provision of the new theatre. Criticism of the theatre’s work at its place of exile, the Queen’s, frequently made Blythe the focus of personal attack, and he was accused of stifling artistic standards in favour of easy profit. This article identifies the various decisions Blythe made to maintain an agreeable relationship with the government and to emphasise the worth of the national theatre to the Irish state. It also challenges some of the assumptions about Blythe’s tenure at the Abbey and explains the reasoning behind some of his most controversial programming decisions, which, it is argued, he made to maintain government support for the rebuilding of the Abbey Theatre.
Achoimre Dírítear aird san alt seo ar na hiarrachtaí is mó atá ar eolas againn i ndáil le bundrámaí Synge a aistriú go Gaeilge. In ainneoin nár scríobh Synge féin drámaí i nGaeilge, bhí tuiscint chuimsitheach aige ar an teanga agus bhí aithne mhaith aige ar an muintir a labhair ó dhúchas í. I ngan fhios do Synge, is é a rinne sé na bunchlocha a leagan síos do na haistritheoirí a tháinig ina dhiaidh chun a chuid bundrámaí a aistriú agus an Ghaeilge a athbhronnadh ar na drámaí. Le céad bliain anuas, chuaigh aistritheoirí éagsúla i ngleic le bundrámaí Synge arís is arís eile agus is léiriú é sin ar an tionchar agus ar an oidhreacht a bhí aige ar an teanga trí chéile. Déantar achoimre san alt seo ar na hiarrachtaí sin agus an chaoi ar glacadh leis na haistriúcháin Ghaeilge i ndiaidh bhás Synge.
Canon Peter O’Leary (An tAthair Peadar Ó Laoghaire) was regarded by many Irish-speakers, at the turn of the nineteenth century and during the first decades of the twentieth century, as the master and role-model for writers of Modern Irish. His championing of what he termed caint na ndaoine (the everyday language of the ‘common’ people’), as the ideal form of the standardised written vernacular, against the urgings of scholars at the time, who argued for a return to the stylised language practised by the sixteenth-century writer Geoffrey Keating (Seathrún Céitinn), was at the centre of a 30-year-long debate about how a standardised language (and orthography) might be established for Modern Irish. Central to Canon O’Leary’s efforts was a translation into Modern Irish of the entire Old and New Testaments, a heroic enterprise that he achieved single-handedly. Sadly, however, that translation was never published. This essay outlines the background to that enterprise and offers an explanation as to why it ultimately failed.
From the 1850s, with the establishment of a commercial Irish telegraph network, telegraphic intelligence became integral to the operation of Irish newspapers. While scholars have noted the impact of this intelligence on the content of Irish newspapers, our understanding of its collection and delivery is negligible. This article provides the first comprehensive study of the organisation of telegraphic intelligence in Ireland, c.1850–80. In doing so, it demonstrates that not only were these early private telegraph companies integral to changes in the format and content of Irish newspapers in this period but that the structures they put in place shaped the collection and delivery of telegraphic intelligence far beyond the period of this study.
