Ó Cearbhalláin, Toirdhealbhach

Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature, The, January, 2000 by ROBERT WELCH

Ó Cearbhalláin, Toirdhealbhach (

Turlough Carolan

)

(1670–1738), harper, and poet. Born near Nobber, Co. Meath, he grew up in Ballyfarnan, Co. Roscommon. When he was left blind by smallpox at 18, he was trained as a harper. At some point he married a Mary Maguire from Fermanagh and settled at Mohill, Co. Leitrim, fathering seven children. He was buried at Kilronan in Roscommon after a wake lasting four days. Ó Cearbhalláin enjoyed the social status traditionally accorded to the harper in Gaelic society, but was on equally familiar terms with patrons of native and planter stock. His music, comprising mostly songs, dance-tunes, laments, and some religious pieces, draws upon native tradition but was also influenced by European...

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