Giolla Brighde Mac Con Midhe

Diarmaid Ó Diobhlin (2000) has written of him as follows: Giolla Brighde was highly regarded by his contemporaries and there are allusions to his poems in the works of later bards and in the bardic tracts... Like much of the bardic poetry that has come down to us, Giolla Brighde's verse is stately, precise and controlled and clearly the product of a very sophisticated personality... He composed poems for several notable Irish kings and chieftains, including: • King Domnall Mór of Tír Chonaill, died 1241 • Padraig Ua hAnluain of Airgíalla, died 1243 • King Áed of Connacht, died 1247 • Gofraid Ó Dómhnaill, died 1258 • Ó Gormshleaghaigh of Ardstraw • Roalbh Mac Mathgamna of Airgíalla, fl. 1270 • King Domnall Óg of Tír Chonaill, died 1282 Besides panegyrics, he composed a number of religious verses. Outstanding among them is Deán oram trócaire, a Thríonnóid (Have mercy on me, O Trinity) in which he pleads for the Holy Trinity to grant him and his wife just one child, as all of their previous children have died. A theachtaire tig ón Róimh (O messenger who comes from Rome), which defends poets and poetry against attacks by the church, is ascribed to him. However, there is some doubt that he was its author. Giolla Brighde's death is mentioned in the poem Lenfat mo cheart ar Cloinn Dálaigh (I will claim my right from the sons of Dálach), which states King Domnall Og plundered the Ó Gormshleaghaighs while they were burying Giolla Brighide. When Domnaill Óg was told why they had not fought against him, he returned all that he had plundered as a mark of respect for the poet, who had addressed several poems to him. His poems have been preserved in a wide variety of manuscripts from the 15th to the 19th centuries.