Bardic poetry
Encyclopedia
Bardic Poetry refers to the writings of poets trained in the Bard
ic Schools of Ireland
and the Gaelic
parts of Scotland
, as they existed down to about the middle of the 17th century, or, in Scotland, the early 18th century. Most of the texts preserved are in Middle Irish or in early Modern Irish, however, even though the manuscripts were very plentiful very few were printed. It was considered a period of great literary stability due to the formalized literary language that changed very little. This allowed Bardic poets to travel over parts of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland with little difficulty.
or bard
s (there was a technical distinction between the ranks, but the terms in later times were used interchangeably) formed a professional hereditary caste
of highly trained, learned poets. The bards were steeped in the history and traditions of clan
and country, as well as in the technical requirements of a verse technique that was syllabic
and used assonance
, half rhyme
and alliteration
. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles.
The bards' approach to the official duties of whatever the situation might have been was very traditional and drawn from precedent. However, even though many Bardic poets were traditional in their approach, there were also some who added personal feelings into their poems and also had the ability to adapt with changing situations although conservative.They were chronicle
rs and satirists
whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them.
Much of their work would not strike the modern reader as being poetry at all, consisting as it does of extended genealogies and almost journalistic accounts of the deeds of their lords and ancestors: the Irish bard was not necessarily an inspired poet, but rather a professor of literature and a man of letters, highly trained in the use of a polished literary medium, belonging to a hereditary caste of high prestige in an aristocratic society (very conservative and based on prestige), holding an official position therein by virtue of his training, his learning, his knowledge of the history and traditions of his country and his clan (Bergin 1912).
See also Chief Ollam of Ireland
An example of a Bardic Poet can also be seen in the book "The Year of the French" by Thomas Flanagan. In this book, a character by the name of Owen MacCarthy is bard known for his training with the native language as well as English. He is turned to in order to write specific, important letters by a group named the "Whiteboys". They are in need of someone skilled with writing letters, such as a bard like MacCarthy.
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
ic Schools of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and the Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
parts of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, as they existed down to about the middle of the 17th century, or, in Scotland, the early 18th century. Most of the texts preserved are in Middle Irish or in early Modern Irish, however, even though the manuscripts were very plentiful very few were printed. It was considered a period of great literary stability due to the formalized literary language that changed very little. This allowed Bardic poets to travel over parts of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland with little difficulty.
Background
Irish fileFili
A fili was a member of an elite class of poets in Ireland, up into the Renaissance, when the Irish class system was dismantled.-Elite scholars:According to the Textbook of Irish Literature, by Eleanor Hull:-Oral tradition:...
or bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
s (there was a technical distinction between the ranks, but the terms in later times were used interchangeably) formed a professional hereditary caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
of highly trained, learned poets. The bards were steeped in the history and traditions of clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
and country, as well as in the technical requirements of a verse technique that was syllabic
Syllabic verse
Syllabic verse is a poetic form having a fixed number of syllables per line regardless of the number of stresses that are present. It is common in languages that are syllable-timed, such as Japanese or modern French or Finnish — as opposed to stress-timed languages such as English, in which...
and used assonance
Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance serves as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the is repeated within the sentence and is...
, half rhyme
Half rhyme
Half rhyme or slant rhyme, sometimes called sprung, near rhyme, oblique rhyme, off rhyme or imperfect rhyme, is consonance on the final consonants of the words involved . Many half/slant rhymes are also eye rhymes.Half/slant rhyme is widely used in Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Icelandic verse...
and alliteration
Alliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles.
The bards' approach to the official duties of whatever the situation might have been was very traditional and drawn from precedent. However, even though many Bardic poets were traditional in their approach, there were also some who added personal feelings into their poems and also had the ability to adapt with changing situations although conservative.They were chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
rs and satirists
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them.
Much of their work would not strike the modern reader as being poetry at all, consisting as it does of extended genealogies and almost journalistic accounts of the deeds of their lords and ancestors: the Irish bard was not necessarily an inspired poet, but rather a professor of literature and a man of letters, highly trained in the use of a polished literary medium, belonging to a hereditary caste of high prestige in an aristocratic society (very conservative and based on prestige), holding an official position therein by virtue of his training, his learning, his knowledge of the history and traditions of his country and his clan (Bergin 1912).
See also Chief Ollam of Ireland
Chief Ollam of Ireland
The Ollamh Érenn or Chief Ollam of Ireland was a professional title of Gaelic Ireland.-Background:An ollam was a poet or bard of literature and history. Each chief or tuath had its own ollam...
Example
The following is an example of a Bardic poem from the translations of Osborn Bergin:Consolations
Filled with sharp dart-like pens
Limber tipped and firm, newly trimmed
Paper cushioned under my hand
Percolating upon the smooth slope
The leaf a fine and uniform script
A book of verse in ennobling Goidelic.
I learnt the roots of each tale, branch
Of valour and the fair knowledge,
That I may recite in learned lays
Of clear kindred stock and each person's
Family tree, exploits of wonder
Travel and musical branch
Soft voiced, sweet and slumberous
A lullaby to the heart.
Grant me the gladsome gyre, loud
Brilliant, passionate and polished
Rushing in swift frenzy, like a blue edged
Bright, sharp-pointed spear
In a sheath tightly corded;
The cause itself worthy to contain.
Anonymous
An example of a Bardic Poet can also be seen in the book "The Year of the French" by Thomas Flanagan. In this book, a character by the name of Owen MacCarthy is bard known for his training with the native language as well as English. He is turned to in order to write specific, important letters by a group named the "Whiteboys". They are in need of someone skilled with writing letters, such as a bard like MacCarthy.
Bardic texts
- Tinnakill DuanaireTinnakill DuanaireThe Tinnakill Duanaire is an early seventeenth-century manuscript "prized for its important collection of bardic religious verse". It is believed to have been compiled for Aodh Buidhe Mac Domhnaill of Tinnakill, Queen's County, Leinster, who is the subject of one of its poems, along with his...
- Royal Irish Academy MS 24 P 33Royal Irish Academy MS 24 P 33Royal Irish Academy MS 24 P 33 is an Irish dunaire or 'poem-book' compiled by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó hÚigínn, sometime in the late seventeenth century. It was made for the Clandeboy O'Neills...
- 23 N 1023 N 10Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS. 23 N 10, formerly Betham 145, is a Gaelic-Irish medieval manuscript.-Overview:MS 23 N 10 is a late sixteenth-century Irish manuscript currently housed in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin...
- The Book of the White EarlThe Book of the White EarlThe Book of the White Earl is an Irish religious and literary miscellany created c. 1404–1452.The Book of the White Earl, now Bodleian Laud Misc. MS 610, consists of twelve folios inserted into Leabhar na Rátha, aka The Book of Pottlerath. It was created by Gaelic scribes under the patronage...
- Egerton 1782Egerton 1782MS Egerton 1782 is the index title of an early sixteenth-century Irish vellum manuscript housed in the Egerton Collection of the British Library, London.-Overview:The compilation dates from c...
- Dunaire Mheig Shamhradháin (Book of Maguran)
- Saltair na RannSaltair na RannThe title Saltair na Rann “Psalter of Quatrains” refers to a series of 150 early Middle Irish religious cantos, written in the tenth century. Together they narrate the sacred history of the world, from its creation down to the last days of humanity...
Selected poets
- Mael Ísu Ó BrolcháinMael Ísu Ó BrolcháinMael Ísu Ua Brolcháin, died 1086.Mael Ísu Ua Brolcháin was a member of a high-class ecclesiastical family, based in what is now Donegal. Besides holding a number of benifices and wielding considerable political influence, he was the author of the poem To an Elderly Virgin...
- Muircheartach Ó CobhthaighMuircheartach Ó CobhthaighMuircheartach Ó Cobhthaigh, Irish poet, fl. 1586.A member of the Ó Cobhthaigh clan of poets from County Westmeath. He is known as the author of six extant poems:* - Le dís cuirthear clú Laighean...
- Gilla Mo Dutu Úa CaisideGilla Mo Dutu Úa CaisideGilla Mo Dutu Úa Caiside, fl. 1147, Gaelic Irish poet.Closely associated with Tighearnán Ua Ruairc, King of Bréifne, he was attached to the monastery of Daminis, and possibly to the church of Ard Brecáin, apparently been a cleric....
- Baothghalach Mór Mac AodhagáinBaothghalach Mór Mac AodhagáinBaothghalach Mór Mac Aodhagáin was an Irish poet.Reputedly from Duniry, he was of the Mac Aodhagáin clan of poets. In his lifetime, his family were keepers of Leabhar Breac. His poems were edited by Lambert McKenna in 1939.-References:...
- Giolla Brighde Mac Con MidheGiolla Brighde Mac Con Midhe-Background and family:Giolla Brighde Mac Con Midhe was a descendant of the Cenél nEógain; Ceart Uí Néill places the Mac Con Midhe family in the area of Ardstraw. His mother was of the Cenél Chonaill, so he addressed poems to the Ó Domhaills as well as the Ó Néills...
- Gofraidh Fionn Ó DálaighGofraidh Fionn Ó DálaighGofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh was an Irish poet and Chief Ollam of Ireland.-Biography:Gofraidh Fionn was a member of the Ó Dálaigh family of poets. He is known for his poem, Filidh Éireann go haointeach, which commemorates An Nollaig na Garma...
- Flann mac LonáinFlann mac Lonáin-Background and career:Flann mac Lonáin was a famed and at times controversial poet. He was the Chief Ollam of Ireland He seems to have being born in the east Clare/west Tipperary region...
- Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh
- Lochlann Óg Ó DálaighLochlann Óg Ó DálaighLochlann Óg Ó Dálaigh, early modern Irish poet, fl. ca. 1610.A native of Munster and a member of the Ó Dálaigh clan of poets, he wrote poetry lamenting the eclipse of the native society and culture of Ireland.Cait ar ghabhader Gaoidhil? he asked, and answered himself thus: "In their place we have...
- Fear Flaith Ó GnímhFear Flaith Ó GnímhFear Flaith Ó Gnímh ca. 1540 – ca. 1630) was an early modern Irish poet.Little is known for certain of Ó Gnímh. He was born in Ulster, and his family located near Larne, County Antrim...
- Mathghamhain Ó hIfearnáinMathghamhain Ó hIfearnáinMathghamhain Ó hIfearnáin, early modern Irish poet, fl. 1585.Ó hIfearnáin was living in the Shronell district of County Tipperary in the late 16th century, and wrote poems on the decline of the profession of poetry. His most well-known poem, Ceist! Cia do cheinneóchadh dán? describes his journey...
- Cormac Mac Con MidheCormac Mac Con MidheCormac Mac Con Midhe, aka Cormac mac Cearbhaill Mac Con Midhe, early Modern Irish poet, died 1627.Manuscript H.5.6, held at Trinity College, Dublin, contains a poem of 24 stanzas apparently written by Mac Con Midhe for Toirealach Ó Néill of Sliocht Airt Óig of Tyrone and his wife, Sorcha. It...
- Eoghan Carrach Ó SiadhailEoghan Carrach Ó SiadhailEoghan Carrach Ó Siadhail was a poet alive in the first half of the 16th century. Under the patronage of Niall Connallach , he made a copy of Beatha Cholm Cille. It now exists as Trinity College, Dublin, MS A...
- [Fear Flaith Ó Gnímh]]
- Fear Feasa Ó'n CháinteFear Feasa Ó'n CháinteFear Feasa Ó'n Cháinte, Irish poet, fl. 16th century.Native of Munster, and a member of the Ó an Cháintighe bardic family. His known poems include the following:* A shaoghail ón a shaoghail* Bean dá chumhadh críoch Ealla...
- Tadhg Olltach Ó an CháinteTadhg Olltach Ó an CháinteTadhg Olltach Ó an Cháinte, Irish poet, fl. c. 1601.A member of the Ó an Cháintighe bardic family, and a relative of Fear Feasa Ó'n Cháinte, Tadhg Olltach is probably to be identified with 'Teige on Canty, of Clansheane', mentioned in a fiant of Elizabeth I dated 14 May 1601, along with his wife,...
- Eochaidh Ó hÉoghusaEochaidh Ó hÉoghusaEochaidh Ó hÉoghusa was an Irish poet.Native of Ulster, mainly employed by the Maguire chiefs of Fermanagh. Some of his compositions include* An tú ar gcéadaithne, a charrag?* A-tám i gcás eidir dhá chomhairle...
- Proinsias Ó DoibhlinProinsias Ó DoibhlinProinsias Ó Doibhlin was an Irish poet, died c. 1724Possibly from Muinterevlin , he was a prominent member of the Franciscan community at the Irish College in Prague where he lectured in Philosophy in 1697, where he remained as late as 1712...
- Tarlach Rua Mac DónaillTarlach Rua Mac DónaillTarlach Rua Mac Dónaill, Irish poet, fl. early 18th century.Tarlach Rua Mac Dónaill was from the townland of Derrylasky in the parish of Donaghmore, County Tyrone, and lived in the first half of the 18th century. He was the author of Seachrán Charn tSiadhail, which became extremely popular in...
- Gilla Cómáin mac Gilla SamthaindeGilla Cómáin mac Gilla SamthaindeGilla Cóemáin mac Gilla Samthainde, Irish poet, fl. 1072.Author of Annálad anall uile, a poem of fifty-eight quatrains, and a number of other works.-References:...
- Tadhg Dall Ó hÚigínnTadhg Dall Ó hÚigínn-Background:One of the most well-known of the late-Gaelic era poets, he was a member of a family of professional poets from north Connacht. He was called dall because he was blind. His mother's name is unknown. His father was Mathghamhain mac Maolhmuire, directly descended from Tadg Óg Ó hÚigínn ....
- Niníne ÉcesNiníne ÉcesNiníne Éces, fl. 700, was an Irish poet, thought to be a member of the Uí Echdach, a kindred known for learning, who were located in the south and west of what is now County Armagh. They are recorded as producing several high-ranking ecclesiastics....
- Colmán mac Lénéni
- Cináed Ua HartacáinCináed Ua HartacáinCináed ua hArtacáin was an Irish Gaelic poet.The chief poet of Leth Cuinn according to the Annals of Tigernach and the chief poet of all Ireland according to the Annals of Ulster, Cináed wrote dinsenchas pertaining to the Kingdom of Brega. Edward O'Reilly gives a full account of his works in his...
- Muireadhach AlbanachMuireadhach AlbanachMuireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh was a Gaelic poet and crusader and member of the Ó Dálaigh bardic family.The Annals of the Four Masters of Ireland, s.a. 1213, tells us that he was the ollamh of Domhnall Ó Domhnaill...
- Gofraidh Fionn Ó DálaighGofraidh Fionn Ó DálaighGofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh was an Irish poet and Chief Ollam of Ireland.-Biography:Gofraidh Fionn was a member of the Ó Dálaigh family of poets. He is known for his poem, Filidh Éireann go haointeach, which commemorates An Nollaig na Garma...
- Cearbhall Óg Ó DálaighCearbhall Óg Ó DálaighCearbhall Ó Dálaigh was a 17th century Irish language poet and harpist, who composed the song "Eileanóir a Rún".Cearbhall was a common name amongst people of the Ó Dálaigh surname, and more than one poet of that surname bore the name Cearbhall. The Cearbhall Óg who composed 'Eileanóir a Rún' was...
- Máeleoin Bódur Ó MaolconaireMáeleoin Bódur Ó MaolconaireMáeleoin Bódur Ó Maolconaire was a member of the Ó Maolconaire family of Connacht, who served as historians and poets to the Síol Muireadaigh, and their rulers, the Ó Conchubhair Kings of Connacht...
- Diarmaid Mac an BhairdDiarmaid Mac an BhairdDiarmaid Mac an Bhaird, fl. 1670, Irish poet.A son of Laoiseach Mac an Bhaird, Diarmaid was a member of the Clann Mac an Bhaird and one of the last classically trained bardic file . He appears to have lived in what is now County Monaghan though he clearly had associations with Clandeboye, as a poem...
- Cú Choigcríche Ó CléirighCú Choigcríche Ó CléirighCú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh was an Irish historian and genealogist, known in English as Peregrine O'Clery.-Life and work:Ó Cléirigh was a son of Diarmaid Ó Cléirigh, and thus a third-cousin once removed to Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, whom he assisted in compiling the Annals of the Four...
- Dallán ForgaillDallan ForgaillSaint Dallán Forgaill —also Dallán Forchella; Dallán of Cluain Dalláin; born Eochaid Forchella—was an early Christian Irish poet best known as the writer of the Amra Choluim Chille and the early Irish poem Rop tú mo baile, the basis of the modern English hymn Be Thou My Vision.-Personal...
- Óengus Céile Dé
- Sedulius ScottusSedulius ScottusSedulius Scottus was an Irish teacher, Latin grammarian and Scriptural commentator, who lived in the ninth century.Sedulius is sometimes called Sedulius the Younger, to distinguish him from Coelius Sedulius . The Irish form of the name is Siadhal.Sedulius the Younger flourished from 840 to 860...
- Saint DungalSaint DungalThe Irish monk Dungal lived at Saint-Denis, Pavia and Bobbio. He wrote a poem on wisdom and the seven liberal arts and advised Charlemagne on astronomical matters. He died after 827, probably at the Monastery of Bobbio...
- Philip Ó Duibhgeannain (d.1340)
Selected poems
- Amra Choluim Chille Le dís cuirthear clú LaigheanLe dís cuirthear clú LaigheanLe dís cuirthear clú Laighean is a poem found only in the Tinnakill Duanaire on folio 34r. It was composed for the brothers Aodh Buidhe Mac Domhnaill and Alasdar of Tinnakill, Queen's County, by Muircheartach Ó Cobhthaigh. It dates from about 1570....
Is acher in gaíth in-nocht...Is acher in gaíth in-nocht...Is acher in gaíth in-nocht... is an anonymous ninth-century poem in Old Irish.The poem exists uniquely as a marginal entry in the Stiftsbibliothek MS 904 at St. Gallen in Switzerland, which is a copy of Priscian's Institutiones grammaticae, heavily glossed in Old Irish... - Is trúag in ces i mbiamIs trúag in ces i mbiamIs trúag in ces i mbiam ... is the first line and title of a poem which survives on two sixteenth-century vellum manuscripts, and one on paper from the second decade of the seventeenth. The poem probably dates from the earlier half of the Middle Irish period...
Sen dollotar Ulaid ...Sen dollotar Ulaid ...Sen dollotar Ulaid ... is an Irish poem of uncertain date, possibly early 10th-century. It consists of nine quatrains, and lacks context. It appears to concern a raid by the men of Ulaid to Viking Scotland.-Translation:...
Sorrow is the worst thing in life ...Sorrow is the worst thing in life ...Sorrow is the worst thing in life ... is the first line, and name, of a poem written in Irish, as an elegy for Féilim Mac Maghnusa Méig Uidhir, who died in 1487. He was a brother of Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa....
- An Díbirt go ConnachtaAn Díbirt go ConnachtaAn Díbirt go Connachta is a lament attributed to Feardorcha Ó Mealláin who is claimed as staraí Éirí amach 1641/the historian of the 1641 Rising, Tarlach Ó Mealláin....
A aonmhic Dé do céasadh thrínn Foraire Uladh ar AodhForaire Uladh ar AodhForaire Uladh ar Aodh is an Irish poem by Maol Sheachluinn na n-Uirsgéal Ó hUiginn.Composed in the early fifteenth century, it is an address to Aodh mac Art Mag Aonghusa, Chief of Uíbh Eathach. It "..... - A theachtaire tig ón RóimhA theachtaire tig ón RóimhA theachtaire tig ón Róimh is a poem "somewhat doubtfully attributed to Giolla Brighde Mac Con Midhe"The poem insists upon the need for genealogy to "preserve due class distinctions in Irish society, while the versifying of battle deeds guarantees immortal fame for the chieftains...
An sluagh sidhe so i nEamhuin?An sluagh sidhe so i nEamhuin?An sluagh sidhe so i nEamhuin? is an Irish poem dated to the late 16th-century. An sluagh sidhe so i nEamhuin? is...
Cóir Connacht ar chath LaigheanCóir Connacht ar chath LaigheanCóir Connacht ar chath Laighean is a fourteenth century Irish poem. It is an address to Aedh mac Eoghan Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht Cóir Connacht ar chath Laighean is a fourteenth century Irish poem. It is an address to Aedh mac Eoghan Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht Cóir Connacht ar chath...
- Dia libh a laochruidh GaoidhiolDia libh a laochruidh GaoidhiolDia libh a laochruidh Gaoidhiol is a poem by Aonghas mac Doighre Uí Dhálaigh. The title can be translated as 'God be with you, O war-band of the Gaels.'In the poem, Uí Dhálaigh...
Pangur BánPangur Bán"Pangur Bán" is an Old Irish poem, written about the 9th century at or around Reichenau Abbey. It was written by an Irish monk, and is about his cat. Pangur Bán, "white fuller", is the cat's name. Although the poem is anonymous, it bears similarities to the poetry of Sedulius Scottus, prompting...
LiamuinLiamuin“Liamuin” is a poem in Dinnsenchas Erann explaining the medieval Irish placelore relating to nine assemblies and noted places in Ireland. The premise is largely dedicated to the etymological legend for Lyons, a hill, former royal inauguration site and former parish situated near the banks of the...
Buile ShuibhneBuile ShuibhneBuile Suibhne is the tale of Suibhne , a legendary king of Dál nAraidi in Ulster in Ireland... - The Prophecy of Berchán Bean Torrach, fa Tuar BroideBean Torrach, fa Tuar BroideBean Torrach, fa Tuar Broide, otherwise A Child Born in Prison is a poem by Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh.-The Text :The following are the first three verses of the poem, followed by an English translation.Bean torrach, fa tuar broide,...
Timna Cathaír Máir Caithréim Cellaig
External links
- http://bill.celt.dias.ie/vol4/browseatsources.php?letter=A#ATS7714
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/plantation/bardic/index.shtml
- http://www.ria.ie/publications/journals/journaldb/index.asp?select=abstract&id=100714
- http://www.ria.ie/publications/journals/journaldb/index.asp?select=abstract&id=100750
- http://www.ucc.ie/celt/bardic.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/plantation/bardic/index.shtml