School: Cluain Fraoich
- Location:
- Cloonfree, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Seán Ó Fiachra
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0252, Page 380
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- (By Walter Jones PH.D.)Several collections of bardic verse now in existence preserve two curious compositions on a house erected in Cloonfree by Hugh, son of Owen, son of Rory O'Connor. This chieftain was inaugurated as O'Connor Connacht in 1293, and was killed, after a boisterous reign, in 1309. The poem is noticed by O'Grady in his catalouge (p 353). It is one of the most difficult bardic compositions of its period and consists of an address to the stronghold of Cloonfree in County Roscommon, the residence of Aed O'Conner. A long poem of thirty-eight quatrains it may be considered a miracle of technical skill, as in addition to the obligatory end rhymes and alliteration, each line contains two, and often three, internal rhymes. The other composition on the same subject is contained in the Book of the Dean of Lismore, and is owing to its elaborate structure and the details it enumerates, the most formidable specimen of bardic worksmanship with which I am familiar. The author of this poem is styled Aengus Ruadh O Dalaigh. The site of the Palis is easy(continues on next page)
