Man Of Beara
(Do mo chara cleite uasal, Riobard)
Solid as the hills that surround him
and sometimes just as contrary too
But mostly bright as an Ahaillies sunset
Or Lauragh’s fields in morning dew
This wise man has a knowledge
But not from the Cloistered Hall
Where mind manacles were forged
To hold our people in their thrall
Seek in the winding mountain path
Leading to the hidden valley, stream
Where Poet and Hedge School Master
Held alive the burning Aisling dream
In such secluded, lonely places
A wolf’s price on their hoary head
While they lived Eire would rise and
The planter slept uneasy in his bed
Theirs were the eyes that see a spailpin-
Not just a laborer with his spade
But the generations back to the hand
Of the white sal when Chiefs were made
For him no lofty halls or roasted boar
Nor now no horses, cups or rings
Yet he knows in other times, his
Honor seat with prince and kings
Content to glean a nickname
Gone long years to Pert or Butte
Around it trace a vanished family
Even plot their emigration route
Cloak of learning lightly worn
Now that twilight years are there,
With such as O’Curry and O’Donovan
In their bright script, he too will share
(Do mo chara cleite uasal Riobard)...
Dedicated to my noble friend of the quill, Robert !
aisling : vision (of the future, usually in poetic form )
A wolf’s price on their hoary head ! Queen Elizabeth (1st) paid
the same bounty on the head of a poets as she did a wolf's head !
spailpin- : an unpropertied person selling their labor by the day or week.
White Sal ( sally... willow ) A white wand over a foot long and made from a bark peeled sally rod was among the symbols of kingship given to a Gaelic Chieftain at their coronation.
For him no lofty halls or roasted boar
Nor now no horses, cups or rings......
Roast Pork at the feast and horses, valuable jeweled drinking cups, rings etc among the gifts given to those involved in reciting the genealogy of kings, princes and other nobility.
O’Curry and O’Donovan : two great scholars, translators, compilers of genealogy etc from the Celtic Revival era in the 19th cent.
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Editor's note: Riobard O'Dwyer really is a man deserving of the poet's recognition. A National Teacher for many years, he has also made it his life's work to preserve the genealogical history of the Beara peninsula. Through Riobard's efforts I came to know more about my own Beara ancestors than I ever would have known otherwise. Since I also have ancestors from other parts of Ireland, I know just how rare and wonderful a treasure we have in Riobard. He continues to build on the great legacy of O'Dwyer scholars, teachers, and historians who've contributed so much to the Beara communities over the centuries.
