Uaithne Ó Cobhthaigh

Biography

Ó Cobhthaigh was a member of a hereditary bardic family based in what is now County Westmeath. His father's name was William.

According to the Annals of the Four Masters, in 1556 Owny, the son of William O'Coffey, the most learned in Ireland in poetry, was treacherously slain at night, at Baile-an-luig in Magh-bhachla, but it is not known by whom. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that "he was murdered, with his wife, at Ballinlig, Westmeath."

Verse

At least two of his poems are extant: Mó ná iarla anim Shémais/Greater than an earl is the name of James, and the theological poem, Fada an cuimhne so ar choir nDe/Long be this rememberence on the justice of God, which consists of one hundred and sixty verses.