Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh

Life
fl.1590-1630 [Cearbhal Ua Daláigh; occas.]; b. Pallas, nr. Gorey, Co. Wexford; bardic poet and author of “Eileanóir a Rún [Eileen Aroon]”, inspired by the dg. of Sir Morgan Kavanagh of Clonmullen on her wedding day: ‘Mo ghrá thú, den chéad fhéachaint, Eileanóir a Rún [...] A ghrá den tsaol, is a chéad searc, is tú is deise ná ban éireann [From the moment I saw you I loved you, Eileanóir my love [...] O love of life and my first love, you are fairer than all the women of Ireland.]’

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Works
“Eileanóir a Rún”, in John O’Daly, The Poets and Poetry of Munster: A Selection of Irish Songs (1860), p.172. [Note: the poem is often said to be a work of the 14th century attributed to the 17th c. poet in folk memory, possibly by confusion of names with an earlier poet - as infra.]

See also James Doan, trans., The Romance of Cearbhall and Fearbhlaigh (Mountrath: Dolmen 1985), and Doan, trans., Cearbhall Ó’Dálaigh: An Irish Poet in Romance and Oral Tradition (NY: Garland 1990); Siobhan Ní Laoire, ed., Bs. Cearbhaill agus Farbhlaide (Baile Átha Cliath: An Clóchomhar Tta. 1986).

“Eileanóir a Rún”  

Mo ghrá den chéad fhéachaint thú, a Eileanóir a Rún,
Is ort a bhím a’ smaoineamh tráth a mbím ar mo shuan;
Mo ghrá den tsaol ’s a chéad searc,
Is tú is deise ná ban éireann

A bhruinnilín deas óg, is tú is deise, milse póg
Chúns a mhairfead beo beidh gean a’m ort;
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn gamhna leat,
A Eileanóir a Rún

Bhí bua aici go meallfadh sí na héanlaith ón gcrann
’S bhí bua eile aici go dtóigfeadh sí an corp fuar ón mbás;
Bhí bua eile aici nach ndéarfaidh mé
’Sí grá mo chroí is mo chéad searc

A bhruinnilín deas óg, is tú is deise, milse póg,
Chúns a mhairfead beo beidh gean a’m ort;
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn gamhna leat,
A Eileanóir a Rún.

An dtiocfaidh tú nó an bhfanfaidh tú, a Eileanóir a Rún?
Nó an aithneofá an té nach gcáinfeadh thú;
A chuid den tsaol ’s a stór?
ó tiocfaidh mé is ní fhanfaidh mé,
Is maith a d’aithneoinn an té nach gcáinfeadh mé

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Criticism
Monograph
  • James E. Doan, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, An Irish Poet in Romance and Oral Tradition (1990).
Articles
  • James E. Doan, ‘Cearbhaill Ó Dálaigh as Archetypal Poet in Irish Folk Tradition’, in Proceedings of the Harvard Colloquium, 1 (1981), pp.77-83 [var. 95-123]
  • ——, ‘Cearbhall O’Dalaigh as Craftsman and Trickster’, in Bealoideas: The Journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society,50 (1982), pp.54-89.
  • ——, ‘Cearbhaill Ó Dálaigh as Lover and Tragic Hero’, in Béaloideas, 51 (1983), pp.11-30.
  • ——, ‘The Ó Dálaigh Family of Bardic Poets 1139-1691’, in Éire-Ireland, 20 (1985), 19-31.
  • ——, ‘The Folksong Tradition of Cearbhaill Ó Dálaigh’, in Folklore, 96 (1985), pp.67-86;
See also
  • Alan Harrison, An Chrosanacht (Baile Átha Cliath: An Clóchomhar Tta 1962).
  • Seosamh Watson, ed., Mac na Míchomhairle (Baile Átha Cliath: An Clóchomhar Tta 1979).

James Doan, "The Folksong Tradition of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh", in
Folklore, 96: 1 (1985), pp.67-86 - available at JSTOR [online].

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References
Dictionary of National Biography lists variant death date of 1350. There is no reference in Dictionary of Irish Biography (RIA 2004) [23.11.2023].

 

Notes
Namesakes: Cearbhall Buidhe O’Dalaigh (d.1245); Cearbhall Fionn O’Dalaigh; Cearbhall Breifneach O’Dalaigh; Cearbhall O’Dalaigh, d.1404, of Finyvara, Co. Clare; Cearbhall O’Dalaigh, fl.1590-1640; father and son [listed by James Doan].

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