Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn (c. 1550 – c.1591) was anIrish poet.
A well-known late-Gaelic era poet, Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn was a member of a family of professional poets from northConnacht. His mother's name is unknown. His father was Mathghamhain mac Maolmhuire, a direct descendant ofTadg Óg Ó hUiginn (died 1448), prominent poet of his day.[1] His brother,Maol Muire Ó hÚigínn, was a priest who becameArchbishop of Tuam, yet also followed family tradition in composing poetry (little surviving). He died in 1590.[2] Tadhg had lands at Doughrarane inAchonry, and Coolrecuil inKilmactigue, among other parcels inCounty Sligo, where he served as ajuror. The twentieth-century editor and translator of his works for theIrish Texts Society,Eleanor Knott, suggests that these were lands originally granted to his ancestors by theO'Conor Sligo family, who were the patrons of this bardic family.[1]
That he was called by thesoubriquetdall ('blind') suggests that Ó hUiginn's vision was poor or absent.[1] However, the appellation was not necessarily literal, and may have alluded to some other perceived characteristic or event in his early life.
Ó hUiginn evidently enjoyed high status in his lifetime. This is reflected in the lords, powerful and influential leaders, to whom he addressed many of his poems.[a] Further indication of his status among contemporaries and in the decades after, is the sizable number of his compositions that are found in important compilations of the time. TheBook of O'Conor Don - compiled atOstend in 1631 - has twenty-four poems ascribed to Ó hUigin; while the Ó Gadhra manuscript (RIA MS 23 F 16), collected inBrussels andLille in 1655-1659, includes fifteen of his works.[1]
A constant theme of his work is a very distinct sense of Irish nationalism, acutely aware of the political situation in late 16th-century Ireland.[1] Irish sovereignty under threat from England features in several, along with restructuring invasion stories found inLebor Gabala Erenn for theNorman-Irish,[1] who were now heavilyGaelicised.[4][5]
Aninquest held atBallymote in 1593 recorded that Tadhg Dall had died at Coolrecuil on the last day of March 1591. Achancery inquisition of 1617 provided further details, stating that members of theÓ hEadhra family of Cashel Carragh, Kilmacteige, were attainted in 1591 for "murdering one Teige Dall O Higgen [sic] his wife and childe in the year one thousand five hundred ninetee and one or thereabouts". Tadhg Dall apparently composed asatirical poem about six robbers, all members of the Ó hEadhra family. A later (1714) manuscript of the satire has a heading that suggests that members of the Ó hEadhra sept retaliated by cutting out his tongue before murdering him.[1] Whatever the precise details of the attack were, Ó hUigin undoubtedly met a violent death.[6]
Tadgh Dall had a daughter, Máire. His son,Tadg Óg Ó hÚigínn, who was nine years old when his father was killed by members of the Ó hEadhrasept, inherited his father's lands at Dooghorne inAchonry. Tadg Óg's grandson, Pól Ó hUiginn (c. 1628 - 1724) was a scholar who was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1668 in Rome. Returning to Ireland, he served as a parish priest, but by 1680 had converted toProtestantism.[7] He was a preacher ofIrish language sermons at theTrinity College Dublin Chapel,[8] and later vicar for eightChurch of Ireland parishes inCounty Tipperary until he died in 1724.[7]
Tadhg, d. 1315 | | ? | | Tadhg, d. 1391 = Áine | _______________|_________ | | | | Fearghal RuadhTadg Óg Ó hUiginn (died 1448) | | | [some generations] | | | Brian Óge | | Maolhmuire | |___________________________ | | | | Mathghamhain Gilla Coluim, d. 1587. | ______________________|_____________________________ | | | | | |Tadgh Dall, d. 1591 Maol Muire, d. 1590. Tomultach Óg? | |________________________________ | | | | Tadg Óg Ó hUiginn, b. 1582. Máire (d. 1591?) | | ? | | Pol, 1628? - 1724
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)These formed septs on the Gaelic-Irish pattern, headed by a chief. The Gall & Gael became virtually indistinguishable.
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