Ó Gnímh, Fear Flatha

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

Ó Gnímh, Fear Flatha (?1540–?1630), a poet who succeeded his father Brian as head of the Ó Gnímh bardic family, ollams [see áes dána ] to the Ó Néill dynasty in Co. Antrim. He may have travelled with Shane O'Neill on his visit to Elizabeth I in London, 1562.

His poetry laments the anglicization of Ireland, the disregard for learned orders, and the demise of the Irish aristocracy that patronized them. His best-known poem, ‘Mo thruaighe mar táid Gaoidhil’ , written around 1612, compares the Irish people to a returning funeral party. One of Ó Gnímh's most appealing compositions is ‘A Niocláis nocht an gcláirsigh’ , a eulogy of the Kerry harper Nioclás Dall Pierce.