Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh facts for kids
Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh, sometimes called Lewey O'Clery, was an Irish poet and historian. He lived in the early 1600s. He is best known for writing a book called Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill. This book tells the life story of Red Hugh O'Donnell, a famous Irish leader.
Lughaidh's Life Story
Lughaidh was born in Tír Conaill, which is now County Donegal in Ireland. He was a cousin of the famous Irish historian Mícheál Ó Cléirigh. Lughaidh was one of five sons of Maccon Ó Cléirigh, who was a poet for the O'Donnell family.
The Ó Cléirigh family was well-known for being very educated in Ireland. They had worked for the O'Donnells for more than 200 years. Lughaidh and his brothers were the last of their family line to be mentioned in the Ó Cléirigh family records from the 1600s.
Lughaidh helped with land surveys in Donegal. This happened before the Ulster Plantation, when land in Ireland was being reorganized. He also took part in a poetry contest called the Contention of the bards. This contest probably happened between 1616 and 1624. Lughaidh is said to have written four of the thirty poems in the contest.
A historian from the 1800s, John O'Donovan, thought Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh was the father of another writer named Cucoigriche Ó Cléirigh. However, people now think this might not be true. We do not know exactly when Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh died.
About Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill
Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh is most famous for writing Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill. This title means "Life of Red Hugh O'Donnell". The book is a biography of Red Hugh, who was an important leader during the Nine Years' War.
Lughaidh's book was a very important source for another famous historical record. This record is called the Annals of the Four Masters. It gave a full account of Red Hugh's life and actions. In the Annals, Lughaidh's work was simply called "the book of Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh".
Because of this simple description, many early scholars thought that Cucoigriche Ó Cléirigh wrote the book. John O'Donovan even said Cucoigriche was the author in his 1851 edition of the Annals. However, Eugene O'Curry was the first to say that Lughaidh wrote the Beatha. He believed Cucoigriche was just the person who copied the book by hand.
Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill is written in an old and fancy style of Irish. It also shows a strong bias towards Donegal, which is not surprising since Lughaidh was from there. Only one original copy of the book still exists. It is a manuscript kept in Dublin. This copy was written by Cucoigriche Ó Cléirigh.
The book was first published and translated by Denis Murphy in 1895. A more complete edition was later published by Paul Walsh in two volumes in 1948 and 1957.
See also
- Peregrine Ó Duibhgeannain
- Mícheál Ó Cléirigh
- John O'Donovan (scholar)
