MÁEL-ÍSU UA BROLCHÁIN (D. 1086)O’Donovan, John, ed. and trans. Annala Rioghachta Eireann,
Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland. Dublin, 1856.
Simms, Katharine. From Kings to Warlords: The Changing
Political Structure of Gaelic Ireland in the Later Middle
Ages. Woodbridge: Suffolk, 1987.
Walsh, Paul. Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne. Dublin, 1920.
See alsoColum Cille; Connacht; Inauguration
Sites; Mac Donnell; Ulster; Ua Domnaill; Ua Néill;
Ulster, Earldom of
MÁEL-ÍSU UA BROLCHÁIN (D. 1086)
Biography
Máel-Ísu Ua Brolcháin was a religious poet from
Donegal who was a member of the Armagh commu-
nity. His death in Lismore is mentioned in the Annals
of Innisfallen in 1086. He is recognized as one of the
primary poets of his age, and there is a full-page
account of his life and family in the sixteenth century
Acta Sanctorumby Colgan. He was educated in the
monastery of Both Chonais, Gleneely, beside the
present day Culdaff, County Donegal. W. Reeves sug-
gests a site in the town land of Carrowmore outside
Culdaff. His death is mentioned in all major annals,
but the Annals of the Four Masters give a longer notice
than others:
The senior scholar of Ireland, learned in wisdom, in
piety and in poetry in both languages. So great was
his erudition and scholarship that he himself wrote
books and compositions of wisdom and intellect. His
spirit ascended into heaven on the 16thJanuary, as is
said: On the sixteenth of January/ on the night of fair
Fursa’s feast,/ Máel-Ísu Ó Brolcháin perished,/ Oh!
Who lives to whom this not a great distress.Máel-Ísu reveals no personal details in his poetry but
genealogical sources give his father as Máel-Brígte and
his three brothers as Áed, Diarmait, and Muirecán. The
Uí Brolcháin descended from the Ulster king Suibne
Mend and further from Niall Naí nGiallach.
His Work
The manuscript sources attribute eight poems to Máel-
Ísu:A Aingil, beir,A Choimdiu báid,A Choimdiu, nom-
chomét,Buaid crábuid,Deus Meus, adiuva me,Dia
hAíne ní longu,In Spirut Naem immunn, and Ocht
n-éric na nDualach. Many of these are published in
the anthologies of lyrical poetry by Gerard Murphy,
David Greene, and James Carney. A full collection of
the poems are published by M. Ní Bhrolcháin. Scholars
mention him as the possible author of four further
compositions. Fr. F. Mac Donncha suggested that he
may also be the author of the Passions and Homilies
because he was well educated with a deep knowledge
of the scriptures and of Latin and had access to an
extensive library.
The content of his poems reflect the concerns of his
age, the secularization of the church and the budding
reform. He composed devotional, personal prayers as
well as didactic poems that reflect the beliefs and the
teaching of the Céili Dé(culdees) in preaching
restraint, fasting, continence, and study as a way of
life. He prays directly to the Trinity, to Saint Michael,
and to God himself, using his poetry as a vehicle for
religious teaching and for personal prayer. Some of the
poetry may be directed at his students—Dia hAíne ní
longusays: “You eat,/ as for me, I shall fast,/ on
account of fire which water does not extinguish/ and
cold which heat does not quench.” He may have moved
to Lismore in search of the reforming spirit that was
absent in the secular world of Armagh.
The poetry appears in a wide range of manuscripts
including Laud 610 and 615, the Yellow Book of
Lecan, 23 N 10 and 23 Q 1 in the Royal Irish Academy.
He utilizes a wide range of meter such as Treochair,
Rinnard,Aí FreisligiandCró cummaisc etir casbairdni
ocus lethrannaigecht móir.
Three poems are attributed to him by Carney; A
Chrínóc,At-lochar duit,Mo chinaid i comláine; and
Kuno Meyer cites him as the author of Rob soraid.
Carney argues cogently for A Chrínóc’s being a poem
to a Psalter that the poet rediscovers in old age. Greene
accepts the attribution with the caveat that nothing else
of Máel-Ísu’s work attains the same standard. The
metaphoric style of A Chrínócis not found in any other
of Máel-Ísu’s poetry. All three poems address the
themes of old age, sickness, a sinful life and impending
death. Carney’s ascription is primarily based upon the
poet’s reference to his northern origin and the improb-
ability that two northern poets, both ill and dying,
should reside in Munster at the same time. The poem
At-lochar duitalso refers to the north of the country.
Carney does not examine considerations such as mate-
rial, style, and meter. Rob soraid was attributed to him
by Meyer and in common with Máel-Ísu’s poetry it
pleads protection for a journey and shows similarities
of phrases with some others of his verse. In the shorts
prayers and invocations such as In Spirut Naem
immunnand the prayer to St. Michael, A Aingil, beir,
he begs protection against the vices of the world. The
three syllable initial line of A Aingil, beirintensifies
the emotion: “Do not delay!/ bring my exorbitant
prayer/ to the King, to the High-King.” The lorica A
choimdiu, nom-chométseeks protection from the eight
deadly sins for eight parts of the body: eyes, ears,
tongue, heart, stomach, male organ, hands, and feet. The
sins associated with each are outlined, for example: