Name Peadar Doirnin | Role Poet | |
Died 1769, Forkhill, United Kingdom | ||
Jeff Beck - Women of Ireland (Mná na hÉireann) - Live at Madison Square Garden 2013
Peadar O Doirnin (c. 1700 - 1769) was an Ulster Irish schoolteacher and Gaelic language poet and songwriter.
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Biography
O Doirnin is a celebrated eighteenth century Ulster poet. Along with Art Mac Cumhaigh, Cathal Bui Mac Giolla Ghunna and Seamas Dall Mac Cuarta, he was part of the Airgialla tradition of poetry and song. His work is still alive in the tradition of north Leinster and south Ulster, although his authorship of nationally and internationally celebrated songs like Mna na hEireann is little known.
Other songs such as Urchnoc Chein mhic Cainte make classic Gaelic appeals for a return to nature reminiscent of its contemporary Lon Doire an Chairn (a poem which attained new renown in the twentieth century under the title Blackbird of Derrycairn by Austin Clarke). Due to the sexual inferences of Urchnoc Chein mhic Cainte, O Doirnin, the master of a hedgeschool, was reportedly dismissed from his teaching job.
Legacy
When O Doirnin died at Forkill in 1769, his elegy was composed by Art Mac Cumhaigh. The poet, who is buried in Urney graveyard in north County Louth, is commemorated in the name of the Forkhill Peadar O Doirnin GAA club.