Matheson Collection > Gleanings from Irish manuscripts

GLEANINGS FROM IRISH MANUSCRIPTS
Ó Néill, son of the Earl Néill by his first wife
Siobhán, sister of Aodh Ruadh O Domhnaill, who
was ** removed " in Spain by an emissary of Carew,
President of Munster, after the battle of Kinsale.
Tadhg O Cianáin thus records the death of young
Néill : Ane 24 Septembris 1609 ro hadhlaicedh
mac 7 oigri diles dingbala Ui Neill J. Aodh O Neill
barun Duin Genainn adbar tigerna Cheneil Eogain
7 an uiopa uothuaidh d'Eirinn gan imresain gan
fresapra^ yesterday, the twenty-fourth of Septem-
ber, 1609, the son and proper worthy heir of
O Neill, Aodh O Neill, Baron of Dun Geanainn,
he who would have been lord of Cenél Eóghain
and the northern half of Ireland without con-
tention or opposition, was buried (Walsh, The
Flight of the Earls^ i93)- He was only a stripling
at the time of his death, and, of course, the stock
self-accusation of sinful indulgence is not to be
taken literally. The Brighid Ni Neill to whom the
piece was sent was possibly his sister, though I
have not been able to trace her elsewhere.
No change has been made in the spelling, except
the word gealluidh^ which Mac Aingil writes
geulluidh several times. I omit his punctuation
and his accents over diphthongs, and supply a few
over long vowels where he omits them. I also give
a translation which will assist learners over the
difficulties of an unfamiliar orthography. The
readings in square brackets appear in the manu-
script as alternatives. In the last verse múnadh an
leomhuin seems to refer to some fable or proverb.
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