Name Art Cumhaigh Role Poet | Died 1773 | |
Art Mac Cumhaigh (1738–1773) was, along with Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna, Peadar Ó Doirnín and Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta, among the most celebrated of the south Ulster and north Leinster poets in the eighteenth century. As with the latter two he was part of the Airgíalla tradition of poetry and song.
It is commonly believed that Mac Cumhaigh was born in Creggan, County Armagh, where a branch of the Uí Néill had been the traditional patrons of the poets under the old order. However, the most comprehensive research into Mac Cumhaigh's life and works could only suggest a birthplace on or near the Louth/Armagh border in or near the parish of Creggan. Mac Cumhaigh eked out a living as a spailpín, or travelling labourer. Seán Ó Tuama and Thomas Kinsella remark about Mac Cumhaigh's most famous poem, Úr-Chill An Chreagáin, that 'in its simple innocence is a more attractive aisling, perhaps, than some more polished vision-songs by the late eighteenth century Munster poets.' Unlike other works of aisling poetry, that poem does not mention the Stuart Pretender, nor does it hold out hope of foreign help coming to free Ireland.