LATER IRISH LITERATURE With the steady advance of English culture on the heels of the English power after 1600 it was only natural that the school of bardic poets should decline. Amongst the prominent poets of this later period may be mentioned Tadhg Dall O'Higinn (d. shortly before 1617), published by Miss Knott (1922 and 1926), and Eochaidh O'Hussey, who between them have left behind nearly 7,000 lines in the classical metres, Bonaventura O'Hussey and Ferfesa O'Cainti. The intricate classical measures gradually broke down. Dr. Douglas Hyde gives it as his opinion that the exceed ingly numerous metres known in Middle Irish bad become re stricted to a couple of dozen, and these nearly all heptasyllabic. However, during the 17th century we find a new school arising with new principles and new methods. These consisted in (I) the adoption of vowel rhyme in place of consonantal rhyme, (2) the adoption of a certain number of accents in each line in place of a certain number of syllables. (For English imitations see Hyde, A Literary History of Ireland, pp. 548 ff.) The consequences of the changed political conditions were of the greatest importance. The bards, having lost their patrons in the general upheaval, threw behind them the old classical metres and turned to the general public. It is only during the last 25 years that the works of any of the poets of the 17th and 18th centuries have been published. Pierce Ferriter was the last chief tain who held out against Cromwell's army, and he was hanged in 1653. His poems have been edited by P. S. Dinneen (1903). The bard of the Williamite wars was David O'Bruadar (d. 1697-98), published by MacErlean (3 vols., 1910-17). From this period date three powerful satires on the state of affairs in Munster, and in particular on the Cromwellian settlers. Their titles are the Parliament of Clan Thomas, the Adventures of Clan Thomas, and the Adventures of Tadhg Dubh (by Egan O'Rahilly). A description of the parliament of Clan Thomas is given by Stern in the Zeitschr. f . celt. Phil. v. pp. 541 ff.
A little later we come across a band of Jacobite poets, whose pet theme was the Aisling or Vision, and we find several note worthy war-songs. We can do no more than mention the names of John O'Neaghtan (d. c. 1720; edition of his poems by A. O'Farrelly, 1908), Egan O'Rahilly, who flourished between 1700 and 1726 (published by Irish Texts Society), Tadhg O'Naghten, Hugh MacCurtin, author of a grammar and part editor of O'Beg ley's Dictionary, John Clarach MacDonnell John O'Tuomy (d. 1775), Andrew Magrath, Tadhg Gaolach O'Sullivan (d. c. 1795), author of a well-known and often published volume of religious poems, and Owen Roe O'Sullivan (d. 1784), the clever est of the Jacobite poets (his verses and bons mots are still well known in Munster). These poets hailed mostly from the south, and it is chiefly the works of the Munster poets that have been pre served. Ulster and Connaught also produced a number of writers. The best known are Seumas Mac Cuarta (O'Muireadhaigh, Dundalk, 1925), Art MacCooey (0'Muirgheasa, Dundalk, 1913) and the Connaught poet Raftery (1784-1835), whose composi tions have been rescued by Hyde (Abhrdin an Reachtiiire, 1903). Torlough O'Carolan (167o-1738), "the last of the bards," was really a musician. Having become blind he was educated as a harper and won great fame. Michael Comyn (b. c. 1688) is well known as the author of a version based upon older matter of "Ossian in the Land of Youth." This appears to be the only bit of deliberate creation in the later Ossianic literature. Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre or Merriman (d. 1808) is the author of perhaps the cleverest sustained poem in the Irish language. His work, which is entitled the Midnight Court, was written in 1781 and contains about 1,000 lines with four rhymes in each line. Donough MacConmara (Macnamara) (d. c. 1814) is best known as the author of a famous lyric "The Fair Hills of Holy Ireland," but he also wrote a mock epic describing his voyage to America and how the ship was chased by a French cruiser.
The translation of the New Testament made by William O'Donnell and published in 1603 was first undertaken in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who sent over to Dublin the first fount of Irish type. It is perhaps of interest to note that the earliest specimen of printing in Irish is a poem on Doomsday (1571).
The scholars of the various Irish colleges on the Continent were particularly active in the production of books of devotion, many of them translated from Latin. We can mention only a few of the more important. Sgathdn an chrdbhaidh (The Mirror of the Pious), published in 1626 by Florence Conry; Sgathdn sacramente na h-Aithrighe (Mirror of the Sacrament of Penance), by Hugh MacCathmhaoil, published at Louvain, 1618; The Book of Chris tian Doctrine, by Theobald Stapleton (Brussels, 1639) ; Pdrrthas an Anma, or The Paradise of the Soul, by Anthony Gernon (Louvain, 1645) ; a book on Miracles, by Richard MacGilla Cody (1667) ; Lochrdn na gcreidmheach, or Lucerna Fidelium, by Francis O'Mulloy (Louvain, 1676) ; O'Donlevy's Catechism (Paris, 1742). O'Gallagher, bishop of Raphoe, published a col lection of sermons which went through 20 editions and are still known at the present day. It is only within recent years that attention has been paid to the collection of folk-songs and tales in Irish. The first collection of the sort was Hyde's Leabhar Sgeuluigheacta (1889). We may mention among others Patrick O'Leary's Sgeuluidheacht Chuige Mumhan (1895) ; Hyde's Beside the Fire (1890) and An Sgeuluidhe Gaedhealach, 35 tales in Irish and French, reprinted from the Annales de Bretagne (1901) ; Daniel O'Fogharta's Siamsa an Gheimhridh (1892) ; J. Lloyd's
Sgealaidhe Oirghiall (1905), his Measgcln Miiscreahe, his Cruach Conaill and Tonn Toime, Michael Timony's Sgealta Gearra (2906), and Larminie's West Irish Folk-Tales (1893). The most important collections of folk-songs are Love-Songs of Connaught (1893) and Religious Songs of Connaught ( 2 vols., 1906), both published by Hyde. An extensive collection of proverbs is the one entitled Seanfhocla Uladh by Henry Morris (1907). See also a large collection by 0. Siochfhradha (1927), Hydes' An Scath runn, O'Rahilly's Miscellany of Irish Proverbs (1922) and O'Do noghue's Munster Proverbs (1902). It should be mentioned that the Saor-Stat is encouraging and paying for new contributions to Irish literature. About a score of books, chiefly stories and novels have been published in 1927 and 1928. Plays are being produced in Irish.
BIBLIOGRAPHY..—In the absence of a comprehensive history, the best manual is Eleanor Hull, Text Book of Irish Literature (2 parts, 1904-08 ; vol. 2 contains a bibliographical appendix). D. Hyde's larger History of Irish Literature (1899) is valuable for the more modern period. A full bibliography of all published material is contained in G. Dottin's article "La litterature gaelique de l'Irlande" (Revue de synthese historique, vol. iii., p. I ff.). Dottin's article has been translated into English and supplemented by Joseph Dunn under the title of The Gaelic Literature of Ireland (Washington, 2906, privately printed). The following are important works:—W. Stokes and J. Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (2 vols., 1901-03) ; J. H. Bernard and R. Atkinson, Liber Hymnorum (1895) ; E. O'Curry, Lectures on the ms. Materials of Ancient Irish History (1873) and Lectures on the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish (3 vols., 1873) ; P. W. Joyce, A Social History of Ancient Ireland (2 vols., 1903) ; E. O'Reilly, Irish Writers (1820) ; S. H. O'Grady, Catalogue of Irish mss. in the British Museum (1901; Robin Flower completed this catalogue in 1926) ; H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, 'Intro duction a l'etude de la litterature celtique (1883), Essai d'un catalogue de la litterature epique de l'Irlande (1883), L'Epopie celtique en Irlande (1892), La Civilisation des Celtes et celle de l'epopee homerique (1899) ; E. Windisch, Tain B6 Cualnge, ed. with an introd. and German trans. (Leipzig, 1905) ; L. Winifred Faraday, The Cattle Raid of Cualnge (1904) ; the Irish text according to LU. and YBL. has been published as a supplement to Erin; Eleanor Hull, The Cuchulinn-saga (1899) ; W. Ridgeway, "The Date of the First Shaping of the Cuchulinn Cycle," Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. ii. (Igo) ; A. Nutt, Cuchulin, the Irish Achilles (1899) ; H. Zimmer, "Keltische Beitrage" in Zeitschrift f. deutsches Altertum, vols. 32, 33 and 35, and "'Ober den compilatorischen Charakter der irischen Sagentexte im sogenannten Lebor na hUidre," Kuhn's Zeitschr. xxviii. PP. 417-689. We cannot here enumerate the numerous heroic texts which have been edited. For texts published before 1883 see d' Arbois's Catalogue, and the same writer gives a complete list in Revue Celtique, vol. xxiv. pp. 237 ff. The series of Irische Texte, vols. i.-iv. (Leipzig, 1880-1901), by E. Windisch (vols. ii.-iv. in conjunction with W. Stokes), contains a number of important texts. The Irish Texts Society has published 24 volumes of texts with translations. Others, more par ticularly these belonging to the Ossianic cycle, are to be found in S. H. O'Grady's Silva Gadelica (2 vols., 5902). See also R. Thurneysen, Sagen aus dem alien Irland (i9oi) ; P. W. Joyce, Old Celtic Romances (Igoi).
Keating's History was translated by John O'Mahony (1866). The first part was edited with Eng. trans. by W. Halliday (I8i I) and the whole work in 3 vols. for the Irish Texts Society by D. Comyn and P. Dinneen (19oi-o8). For the work of the older bards see O'Rahilly's Dauta gradha (Dublin 1916 and Cork 1926) and his Measgra Dauta (1927) ; Father McKenna's Dan De (Dublin, n.d.) ; Bergin's contributions to Studies; McKenna's Poems of Aongus O'Dtilaigh. Editions of the poems of Ferriter, Geoffrey O'Donoghue, O'Rahilly, John O'Tuomy, Andrew Magrath, John Claragh MacDonnell, Tadhg Gaolach and Owen Roe O'Sullivan by Dinneen, Gaelic League, Dublin, and Irish Texts Society, London, i9oo-o3 ; Loyd's Duanaine na Midhe (Dublin, 1914) ; 0. Muirgheasa's Cead de Cheoltaibh Vladh (Dublin, 1915), etc. (E. C. Q.; D. Hy.)