Simms (Mary Katharine)

Includes a glossary.

Poem beg. Gabh umad a Fheidhlimidh addressed to Feidhlim(idh) Fionn, son of Ó Conchobhair Ruadh and composed by the historian Torna Ua Maoil Chonaire (†1468) c. 1464-66. Refers to two other poems possibly composed by same author, i.e. Tosach féile fairsinge, addressed to Tomaltach son of Conchobhar Óg MacDiarmada, chief of Magh Luirg (†1458); Buaidh n-easbaig ar Ardachadh, addressed to Cormac MagShamhradhain, bishop of Ardagh 1444-ca. 1476. Notes association of ae freislighe metre with informal poetry and its use by gifted amateurs rather than professional bards.

Propoganda use of Eamhain Macha (in bardic poetry) by 14th-c. O’Neill’s of Tyrone.

Term first recorded in 1390 (Annals of Ulster).

Rev. by
Dennis W. Cashman, in Speculum 64/4 (Oct., 1989), pp. 1037-1039.
Liam Mac Mathúna, in StH 25 (1990), pp. 173-176.
Brian Ó Cuív, in Celtica 20 (1988), pp. 221-224.
Mary O’Dowd, in Albion 20/1 (1988), pp. 166-167.
W. D. H. Sellar, in IHS 27, nº 106 (Nov., 1990), pp. 165-167.

Rev. by
David Dumville, in Peritia 11 (1997), pp. 451-468.

Rev. by
Marie-Thérèse Brouland, in ÉtC 34 (1998-2000), pp. 336-339.
Albrecht Classen, in Mediaevistik 11 (1998), pp. 272-274.
A. J. Hughes, in SAM 17/1 (1996-1997), p. 256.
Elva Johnston, in Peritia 11 (1997), pp. 431-434.
Catherine Peyroux, in Early medieval Europe 7/2 (Jul., 1998), pp. 217-227.

On the contemporary relevance of the later commentaries.

pp. 284-285: A select bibliography of W. O’S.

Rev. by
T. M. Charles-Edwards, in Peritia 13 (1999), pp. 315-318.

Cuaine ríoghna rug Éadan (variously ascribed to Maolmhuire Mac Craith and Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh) and Mac Cairteáin triath na n-each seang (ascribed to Mac Con Ó Cléirigh).

Examines the vocabulary for buildings or furnishings in bardic poetry of the period 1200–1650. In Appendix: 1. List of poems composed about a patron’s house, or containing passages referring to a house and/or its furnishings; 2. A) Vocabulary for building and furnishing taken from nine thirteenth-century bardic poems; 2. B) Additional vocabulary from eleven fourteenth and fifteenth-century poems.

Discusses passages of late legal commentary relating to military service and the billeting of soldiers, with particular attention to the terms meath slóighidh, fuba and ruba.

Appendix: Thirty-two bardic poems addressed to the MacSweeneys.

Discusses the reasons for the poetic and literary training of the late medieval and early modern brehon lawyers, arguing that such education was not just a pre-requisite to becoming a professional, but also the result of a long tradition that combined law with poetry. Also discusess the related figure of the brithem bélrai filedachtae.

Discusses the additional verse material copied from the lost ‘Old book of St. Caillín’ into RIA MS 23 P 26, particularly the poems Conall cuingid Cloinni Néill, Enna dalta Cairpri cruaid, A eolcha Conaill ceoluig, Atá sunn senchus nach suaill, A liubhair ta ar do lar, Cairbre Eogan Enna eim and Estid re Conall calma.

Appendix 1: Gaelic sources for an incident in fourteenth-century Connacht [the killing in 1356 of Aodh mac Toirdhealbhaigh]; 2. Agreements between Ó Domhnaill and Mac Suibhne [excerpted from the Book of the MacSweeneys].

Rev. by
Clare Downham, in Early medieval Europe 19/1 (Feb., 2011), pp. 120-121.
Nicholas Evans, in IR 61/2 (Nov., 2010), pp. 233-235.
Joseph Falaky Nagy, in Speculum 86/1 (Jan., 2011), pp. 274-276.
Réamonn Ó Muirí, in SAM 23/1 (2010), pp. 327-329.
Pamela O’Neill, in JAEMA 8 (2012), pp. 132-133.

Includes (in Appendix) an alphabetical list of first lines (rearranged and improved from D. Hyde, Ériu 8.78ff).

Discusses the poem addressed to Cailleach Dé, daughter of Ó Mannacháin (cf. L. McKenna, Aithdioghluim dána (1939), no. 1 [Best² 1692]).

pp. 561-568: A bibliography of the published writings of K. S. (to 2012).

Rev. by
Neil McGuigan, in Peritia 26 (2015), pp. 252-257.
Michael Staunton, in StH 40 (2014), pp. 191-196.

On ‘the poet as the patron’s lover’ and other motifs used to describe the relationship between poet and patron.

Edition of a set of five verses (attributed to returned spirits of the dead) relating to the 1545–1548 revolt of An Calbhach O’Donnell against his father Mánus. Text from RIA C iv 2, with English translation.

Rev. by
Lauran Toorians, in JCeltL 18 (2017), pp. 246-249.

On the Kildare Geraldines as patrons of professional poets and historians.

In Appendix: Irish poems to Geraldine patrons, fourteenth to seventeenth centuries.

Rev. by
Michelle O Riordan, in StH 47 (2021), pp. 160-165.