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Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire or the Lament for Art O'Leary is an Irish keen, or dirge written by his wife Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill.

The late Eighteenth century epic poem is one of the greatest laments and one of the greatest love poems of the Irish Language. Eibhlín composed it capturing the life and tragic death of her husband Art on the May 4, 1773.

It details the murder at Carraig an Ime, County Cork of Art, at the hands of Abraham Morris, and the aftermath. It is one of the keys texts in the Irish oral literature corpus. The poem was compsed ex tempore and follows the rhythmic and societal conventions associated with keening and the traditional Irish wake respectively. The caoineadh is divided into five parts composed in the main over the dead body of her husband at the time of the wake and later when Art was re-interred in Klcrea.

Parts of the caoineadh take the form of a verbal duel between Eibhlín and Art's sister. The acrimonious dialogue between the two women shows the disharmony between the two prominant West Cork families concerned.

Literary References to the Caoineadh

• Peadar Ó Riada has arranged Caoineadh Airt Ui Laoghaire to be sung, most famously by the Cor Ban Chuil Aodha.

• Professor Patricia Rubio notes the similarities between Caoineadh Airt Ui Laoghaire and Seamus Heaney's "The Burial at Thebes.

• Playwright Tom McIntyre dramatised the events, and his play won the Stewart Parker Prize in 1999.

References

1. "The Burial at Thebes". Heaney. Prof. Patricia Rubio and Prof. Michael Arnush. Retrieved 2006-09-12. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
2. "Tom McIntyre biography". coislife. Retrieved 2006-09-12. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External Links

Online text in Irish and English

• Irish-language literature
• Irish non-fiction literature
• Irish literature