The bards of Muskerry: 100th edition of the Dáimh Scoil to be held in Cork this Christmas 

Idir dhá Nollag, that traditional period of downtime between Christmas Day and Women’s Christmas, was always a busy time in our house as I grew up.

It was then, always, that my father and uncle, both of them poets, would begin writing verse in earnest.

These were the last days before Dáimhscoil Mhúscraí Uí Fhloinn, the Poetry School of O’Flynn’s Muskerry, would be convened in the local hall and that was the opportunity to recite, maybe even sing, what had been composed in the previous twelve months – or the previous twelve days in our house as my father and uncle, Dónal and Peadar Ó Liatháin, would always work best under pressure of a rapidly approaching deadline.

The Dáimhscoil would have also been referred to as a poetry court and harks back to Ireland’s bardic era, some two to three centuries ago, when the Bard, the likes of Eoghan Rua Ó Suilleabháin and Raifteirí and Aogán Ó Rathaille, would spend their lives wandering from village to village, from one chieftain’s fort to the next.

In the home of the chieftain, the Bard would earn his keep by composing poems in homage to his host and patron and on various other topics.

They would also bring the news from one place to the next, set out in verses with metre and rhythm and rhyme, so as to inform people what was happening in other parts of the country and the world at large.

In some villages, like on the banks of the Moy in Limerick, there was a Bardic Court or School which would convene the local poets and verse-makers every so often, sometimes yearly or other times when a famous bard such as Ó Suilleabháin or Ó Rathaille was visiting.

It was at these gatherings that aspiring Bards would be tested by their peers to see if they could be given the much prized status.

Back in 1925, in a nod to that tradition, three men in Baile Mhúirne – Pádraig Mac Suibhne (my granduncle and a local teacher in Scoil Náisiúnta Chúil Aodha), Pádraig Ó Cruadhlaoich (a tailor who went by the ainm chléite/nom de plume, Gael na nGael) and Dómhnall Ó Ceocháin, a Conradh na Gaeilge teacher and activist – decided to establish Dáimhscoil Mhúscraí Uí Fhloinn so they could have their own Bardic school.

The first gathering of the Dáimhscoil took place on Whit Weekend in the school in Baile Mhúirne and it was held annually there until moving to Cúil Aodha a few years later.

It also became a winter event, taking place between Christmas Day and Women’s Christmas.

The format of the Dáimhscoil was set out in those early years and it remains more or less the same.

Several weeks before the event is due to take place, a note is sent out containing a very flowerily worded ‘Forogra’ (declaration or warrant) calling on the local poets to gather on such a date and at such a venue to present their poems and songs.

The note also contained a ‘Cuireadh’ which was a short four or five verse poem with four or maybe six lines in each stanza.

This poem would be written by Uachtarán na Dáimhe (the President), inviting people to come and perform or be part of an audience for what was generally a good night’s entertainment.

It was up to the Clerk of the Court/Cléireach na Dáimhe to write a question or ‘Ceist’ in poetic form which would challenge the poets and would-be-Bards to write a response, a ‘freagra’, also in verse, to whatever was vexing the Cléireach.

Over the years this ‘Ceist’ has raised many issues – back in 1959, when my uncle Peadar became the Cléireach, succeeding his uncle, Pádraig Mac Suibhne, it was the Sputniks in the skies above, then just recently launched by Soviet Russia, which prompted the Ceist.

In more recent years, the questions have been on matters including clerical abuse or the state of politics in the country and occasionally portents of doom and Armageddon.

Peadar ed away in 2012 and I am now the Cléireach, the third person to hold the office in 100 years.

I have written questions about Trump in the White House, the perennial plight of the Gaeltacht and other topical issues.

The Dáimhscoil was the launching platform for many songs which are now taught in schools and heard at concerts wherever Irish songs are sung; the likes of ‘An Poc Ar Buile’ (the Mad Puck Goat) written by Dómhnall Ó Mullain from Screathan in Barr D’ínse or ‘Táimse agus Máire’ penned by Seán Eoghan Ó Súillabháin from Doire’n Chuilinn, my own townland here in Cúil Aodha, were all first performed at the Dáimhscoil.

My father followed on in that tradition, writing songs which would be humorous s of local happenings or poems which might lament the ing of a stalwart of the Dáimhscoil or a famous personage.

He always had a sheaf of poems to read out and these would have been highlights of my youth.

My father died in 2008 and it wasn’t until the subsequent holding of the Dáimhscoil, in December, that I made my first attempt at poetry.

I don’t know whether I held back until then because I was afraid of being in his shadow or him being shamed by my poor efforts.

It became easier to write my verses.

I was reluctant to call them poetry.

I felt I was getting enjoyment out of them and they seemed to be enjoyed by others in attendance and that was enough for me.

Maybe they’re getting better as I write more.

The 100th edition of the Dáimhscoil is being held this Christmas in Áras Éamon Mac Suibhne in Cúil Aodha at 3pm on December 29.

We intend to hold a bigger celebration later in 2025 but it’s business as usual in the meantime.

It is proving more challenging every year to get new poets to come forward and participate.

The years when there was a poet or versemaker in every house are gone and we can blame lots of things but the reality is that era has ed.

Still I know there are poets out there and they are writing and if they need a place to present their works in a non-judgmental forum, then the Dáimhscoil is the time and place.

There’s no competition here, it’s all for the love of poetry and the best judgement of all is the gales of laughter or round of heartfelt applause you will hear at the end of your recitation.

You can get more information about the Dáimhscoil on our website, www.daimhscoil.ie where you can also find this year’s ‘Cuireadh’ and ‘Ceist’ and find out more details about the event on December 29.

This article appeared in this year's Holly Bough.

The 2024 Holly Bough is now on sale and can be purchased here.