The
Contention of the Bards (in
IrishIrish is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now only spoken natively by a small minority of the Irish population but also plays an important symbolic role in the life of the Irish state, and is used...
,
Iomarbhágh na bhFileadh) was a literary controversy of early 17th century
GaelGaël is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Bretagne in north-western France.It lies southwest of Rennes between Saint-Méen-le-Grand and Mauron...
ic
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, lasting from 1616 to 1624 (probably peaking in 1617), in which the principal bardic poets of the country wrote polemical verses against each other and in support of their respective patrons.
There were thirty contributions to the Contention, which took the form of a bitter debate over the relative merits of the two halves of Ireland — the north dominated by the Eremonian descendants of the
MilesiansMilesians are a people figuring in Irish mythology. The descendants of Míl Espáine, they were the final inhabitants of Ireland, and were believed to represent the Goidelic Celts.-Myth:...
, and the south dominated by the Eberian descendants.
The verses were first published in print in two volumes produced by the Irish Texts Society in 1918 and 1920, edited by
Lambert McKennaLambert McKenna S.J. was a Jesuit priest and writer.He was born Andrew Joseph Lambert McKenna in Dublin and studied in Europe. He collected and edited religious and folk poetry in the Irish language...
.
The Contention took place in the context of the settlement of the country following on the
Tudor re-conquest of IrelandThe Tudor re-conquest of Ireland took place under the English Tudor dynasty during the 16th century. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by the Geraldines in the 1530s, Henry VIII was declared King of Ireland by statute of the Irish parliament, with the aim of restoring such central...
, when full domination by
StuartThe House of Stuart, also known as the House of Stewart, is an important European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century. Their direct ancestors had held the title High Steward of Scotland since the...
royal authority had led to the
Flight of the EarlsThe Flight of the Earls refers to the departure from Ireland on 14 September 1607 of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.-Background to the exile:...
(1607) and the
Plantation of UlsterThe Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation of Ulster by people from Britain. Private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while official plantation controlled by the monarchy began in 1609. All land owned by Irish chieftains the Ó Neills and Ó Donnells were confiscated...
(1610).
The occasion for the Contention was a dispute over the allegiance of the Earl of
ThomondThomond The region of Ireland associated with the name Thomond is County Clare, County Limerick and north County Tipperary; effectively most of north Munster. The name is used by a variety of establishments and organisations located in , or associated with the region...
, a Gaelic nobleman of the ancient
O'BrienThe O'Brien dynasty is a royal and noble house founded in the Middle Ages by a member of the Dalcassian tribe known as Brian Boru. After becoming King of Munster, through conquest Boru established himself as High King of Ireland, breaking the centuries hold of the title by the Uí Néill...
clan (or
septSept may refer to:* Sept., an abbreviation for September* Sept , a division of a family or clan* Sept, a church or temple dedicated to the Seven gods of the Andals in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire...
) — unusually for the time, the earl was a Protestant and loyal to the new dispensation.
The
Contention of the Bards (in
IrishIrish is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now only spoken natively by a small minority of the Irish population but also plays an important symbolic role in the life of the Irish state, and is used...
,
Iomarbhágh na bhFileadh) was a literary controversy of early 17th century
GaelGaël is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Bretagne in north-western France.It lies southwest of Rennes between Saint-Méen-le-Grand and Mauron...
ic
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, lasting from 1616 to 1624 (probably peaking in 1617), in which the principal bardic poets of the country wrote polemical verses against each other and in support of their respective patrons.
There were thirty contributions to the Contention, which took the form of a bitter debate over the relative merits of the two halves of Ireland — the north dominated by the Eremonian descendants of the
MilesiansMilesians are a people figuring in Irish mythology. The descendants of Míl Espáine, they were the final inhabitants of Ireland, and were believed to represent the Goidelic Celts.-Myth:...
, and the south dominated by the Eberian descendants.
The verses were first published in print in two volumes produced by the Irish Texts Society in 1918 and 1920, edited by
Lambert McKennaLambert McKenna S.J. was a Jesuit priest and writer.He was born Andrew Joseph Lambert McKenna in Dublin and studied in Europe. He collected and edited religious and folk poetry in the Irish language...
.
Context
The Contention took place in the context of the settlement of the country following on the
Tudor re-conquest of IrelandThe Tudor re-conquest of Ireland took place under the English Tudor dynasty during the 16th century. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by the Geraldines in the 1530s, Henry VIII was declared King of Ireland by statute of the Irish parliament, with the aim of restoring such central...
, when full domination by
StuartThe House of Stuart, also known as the House of Stewart, is an important European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century. Their direct ancestors had held the title High Steward of Scotland since the...
royal authority had led to the
Flight of the EarlsThe Flight of the Earls refers to the departure from Ireland on 14 September 1607 of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.-Background to the exile:...
(1607) and the
Plantation of UlsterThe Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation of Ulster by people from Britain. Private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while official plantation controlled by the monarchy began in 1609. All land owned by Irish chieftains the Ó Neills and Ó Donnells were confiscated...
(1610).
The occasion for the Contention was a dispute over the allegiance of the Earl of
ThomondThomond The region of Ireland associated with the name Thomond is County Clare, County Limerick and north County Tipperary; effectively most of north Munster. The name is used by a variety of establishments and organisations located in , or associated with the region...
, a Gaelic nobleman of the ancient
O'BrienThe O'Brien dynasty is a royal and noble house founded in the Middle Ages by a member of the Dalcassian tribe known as Brian Boru. After becoming King of Munster, through conquest Boru established himself as High King of Ireland, breaking the centuries hold of the title by the Uí Néill...
clan (or
septSept may refer to:* Sept., an abbreviation for September* Sept , a division of a family or clan* Sept, a church or temple dedicated to the Seven gods of the Andals in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire...
) — unusually for the time, the earl was a Protestant and loyal to the new dispensation. The spark came in 1616, after the final annexation of the modern
County ClareCounty Clare commonly referred to as simply Clare, is a county of Ireland and part of the wider province of Munster. Clare is one of the 26 counties within the Republic of Ireland and it provides a basis for local government, in the form of its own constituency within the Dáil Éireann...
(containing part of the ancient kingdom of
ThomondThomond The region of Ireland associated with the name Thomond is County Clare, County Limerick and north County Tipperary; effectively most of north Munster. The name is used by a variety of establishments and organisations located in , or associated with the region...
) to the Eberian province of
MunsterMunster is a province of Ireland, located in the south-west of the island. The province is not used as an administration division as such, with the counties filling that role. Much of the area aside from Clare is represented internationally by the South constituency of the European Parliament...
(whereupon the
Earl of ThomondEarl of Thomond was a title in the Peerage of Ireland that has been created twice, for the family of O'Briens, formerly a clan of celtic Ireland and the rulers of Munster. The first creation was for Murrough O'Brien, who was also created Baron Inchiquin, on 1 July 1543. On the same day his nephew...
was appointed president of the province) and the death in exile of the last great Eremonian,
Hugh O'NeillAodh Mór Ó Néill, anglicised as Hugh The Great Ó Neill , was the 2nd Earl of Tyrone and was later created The O'Neill...
.
For centuries before 1616 the bards had been sponsored by the Irish Gaelic dynasties and confirmed their paternal lineages, and therefore had a political as well as a cultural impact.
Substance
In 1616 the Earl of Thomond's bard,
Tadhg Mac Dáire Mac BruaideadhaTadhg mac Dáire Mac Bruaideadha) was an Irish Gaelic poet and historian.-Biography:Born in County Clare to a family of chroniclers for the Earl of Thomond, Tadhg mac Dáire Mac Bruaideadha was most recognised for beginning the Contention of the bards...
, wrote verses attacking the semi-legendary bard Torna Éigeas, on account of historical inaccuracies in his work and his partiality to the northern half of Ireland and the Eremonian branches of the Gael. In effect, Tadhg's verses celebrated the greatness of the Eberian septs of the southern half of Ireland and their ascendancy over the North; he even included his patron's
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
lineage as worthy of the race of Ébhear.
This provoked verses in response from other court bards — notably,
Lughaidh Ó CléirighLughaidh Ó Cléirigh , sometimes anglicised as Lewey O'Clery, was an Irish Gaelic poet and historian. He is best known today as the author of Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill, a biography of Red Hugh O'Donnell.-Life:...
— in which abstruse points of poetic etiquette and the respective merits of the two halves of Ireland were vehemently argued. In extolling his own side, Lughaidh emphasized the historical defence of Tara, rather than the internecine struggle for the high-kingship of Ireland; Tadhg's response referred to the achievements of his patron's ancestor,
Brian BoruBrian mac Cennétig, called Brian Bóruma, Brian Boru, Emperor of the Irish , , was an Irish king who ended the centuries-long domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill...
, and pooh-poohed the former martial feats of the Eremonians as consisting merely of battles amongst themselves; the northern poets (whose allegiance lay with the exiled
UlsterUlster is one of the four Provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island.Ulster is composed of nine counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone are part of Northern Ireland; while Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan are part of the Republic of Ireland.-Terminology:The...
princes) countered with the accusation that Tadhg was betraying the bardic profession in his failure to comprehend the truth of the noble history of the Gael.
Some of the participants in the Contention mocked the principal debate between Tadhg and Lughaidh; for example, Ó Heffernan used the fable of a cat and a fox (Eremonians and Eberians), which were bickering over a fat piece of meat (Ireland) when a wolf came along and snatched it all.
In June 1617, Tadhg had suggested in a letter to Lúghaidh and the northern poets that a decisive face-to-face poetic disputation be convened in order to resolve the Contention. It is not known if the suggestion was acted upon, but it appears to have marked the moment of greatest controversy. The Contention came to a head in a whirl of extreme sarcasm from the poet Mac Artúir, who defended the bards' tradition in an ironically novel, run-on free-form, which contrasted with the traditional form in which Tadhg wrote.
Perspective
The poems of the Contention share a sense of national culture, but their political allegiance is clan-centred. This was a period of decline for the court
bardIn medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, paid by a monarch to praise the sovereign's activities....
s, and the fact that they were addressing each other suggests a realisation that their audience was losing its influence, and that few within the new dispensation were paying heed to them.
In the course of the exchange, the theme of North-South rivalry was developed to include a debate about the struggle between tradition and iconoclasm. This allowed the poets to vent their bitterness at the late conquest and colonisation of the country and at the collapse of the political order upon which they depended.
Throughout the Contention, each side had eagerly and jealously claimed
James I of IrelandJames VI & I was King of Scots as James VI from 1567 to 1625, and King of England and Ireland as James I from 1603 to 1625....
as a descendant in its Milesian lineage (he being descended from
Marjorie BruceMarjorie Bruce or Marjorie de Brus was the eldest daughter of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots by his first wife, Isabella of Mar, and mother of king Robert II of Scotland.-Life:Her mother died giving birth to her....
whose ancestors included the Gaelic kings of Scotland such as
Kenneth McAlpineCináed mac Ailpín , commonly Anglicised as Kenneth MacAlpin and known in most modern regnal lists as Kenneth I was king of the Picts and, according to national myth, first king of Scots, earning him the posthumous nickname of An Ferbasach, "The Conqueror"...
). Ironically, his crown authority was precisely the instrument by which the traditional Gaelic order was being destroyed in Ireland. The Ireland that the poems traced in their lore was past, and it seems the bards were incapable of adapting their ways. The Contention proved to be the last flourish of
Dán Díreach: within decades the great school metres had been abandoned in favour of the looser
Amhrán or
AislingThe aisling , or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry...
, and the esteem in which the bards had been held in Gaelic Ireland was never regained.
See also
- Bardic poetry
Bardic Poetry refers to the writings of poets trained in the Bardic 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...
- Medieval poetry
Because most of what we have was written down by clerics, much of extant medieval poetry is religious. The chief exception is the work of the troubadours and the minnesänger, whose primary innovation was the ideal of courtly love.-Examples of medieval poetry:...
- Irish poetry
The history of Irish poetry includes the poetries of two languages, one in Irish and the other in English. The complex interplay between these two traditions, and between both of them and other poetries in English, has produced a body of work that is both rich in variety and difficult to...
- List of poetry collections