Domingo Patricio Meagher facts for kids

Domingo Patricio Meagher (born 1703, died 1772) was a Spanish priest, university professor, and writer. He was known as Father Meagher (or Aita Meagher in Basque). He was born in San Sebastian, Spain on March 17, 1703. His father was an Irish merchant who had moved to the Basque city. Father Meagher passed away in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany on September 21, 1772.

Who Was Father Meagher?

When he was 14, Domingo and his brother Daniel joined the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. This is a religious group within the Catholic Church. In 1736, he officially became a Jesuit in San Sebastian.

Father Meagher became a professor of philosophy at the University of Santiago. He also taught theology at the universities of Salamanca and Valladolid. Later, he returned to the Jesuit community in his hometown.

In 1767, the Jesuits were expelled from Spain. Father Meagher had to leave his home with his fellow Jesuits. He died a few years later, on September 21, 1772, in Florence, when he was 69 years old. In 1994, a square in his hometown of San Sebastian was named Father Meagher/Aita Meagher Plaza to remember him.

What Did Father Meagher Write?

Besides teaching, Father Meagher also wrote poems and other texts. Many of his writings were lost when the Jesuits were expelled in 1767. However, we know about some of his works:

• Poems celebrating the canonization (making someone a saint) of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and Saint Stanislaus Kostka in 1726.
• Funny verses about a fictional character named Friar Gerund of Campazas, created by Father Isla in 1758.
• A sad poem written after the death of Barbara de Braganza, who was the queen of King Ferdinand VI of Spain, in 1758.
• Writings defending the Jesuits against books that criticized them. These books were published in France between 1760 and 1761.
• Short writings about different events that happened in the 17th century.

A Poem About Wine

Here is one of Father Meagher's verses in Basque:

Gizon bat ardo gabe

Dago erdi hila

Marmar dabiltzak tripak

Ardoaren bila

Baina edan ezkero

Ardoa txit ongi

Gizonik txatarrenak

Balio ditu bi

And here is what it means in English:

A man without wine

is half dead

the guts go growling

looking for wine

But once drank

wine is very good

the man most useless

sorry for the two

Father Meagher and the Basque Language

Father Meagher played a small but important role in the history of Basque literature. He wrote several poems in Basque, which helped keep the language alive in writing. These poems stayed popular and were copied into songbooks and magazines throughout the 1800s and early 1900s.

It is said that Father Meagher wrote these poems after he recovered from an illness. He was given wine as medicine to help him feel better. He was so grateful for the relief he found in the wine that he wrote verses praising it. All of Father Meagher's Basque poems are about the same topic: wine!

• Ardo zarraren kantak seikotan - (Songs about old wine in six-line stanzas).
• Ardoa o Ni naiz txit gauza goxoa - (Wine or I'm a very sweet thing).
• Erroman eta Parisen o Matsaren zumua - (In Rome and Paris or Grape juice).
• Ardoari, Zortziokoa ardoari o Gizon bar ardo bage - (To Wine, an Octet to wine or A man without wine).

See also

In Spanish: Domingo Patricio Meagher para niños