Antoine Ó Raifteiri

Antoine Ó Raifteiri (also Antoine Ó Reachtabhra, _en. Anthony Raftery) (1784 – 1835) was an Irish language poet who is often called the last of the wandering bards.

Biography

A native of Kiltimagh, County Mayo, Ó Raifteiri was blinded by smallpox as a child. He lived by playing his fiddle and performing his songs and poems in the mansions of the Anglo-Irish gentry. His work draws on the forms and idiom of Irish poetry, and although it is conventionally regarded as marking the end of the literary tradition, Ó Raifteiri and his fellow poets did not see themselves in this way. [ cite book |last= Denvir |first= Gearóid |title= Litríocht agus Pobal |publisher= Cló Iar-Chonnacta |year= 1997] None of his poems were written down during the poet's lifetime, but they were collected from those he taught them to by Douglas Hyde, Lady Gregory and others, who later published them. [ Bartleby. http://www.bartleby.com/250/142.html Retrieved Feb. 24, 2007.] Raftery was lithe and spare in build and not very tall but he was very strong and considered a good wrestler. He always wore a long frieze coat and corduroy breeches. [ [http://www.iol.ie/~rjtechne/century130703/1960s/dmcmanus.htm Recollections of Dermot McManus] ] Ó Raifteiri is buried at Rahasane, near Craughwell, County Galway. [ [http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/r/Raftery,A/life.htm] Princess Grace Irish Library. Retrieved Sep. 23, 2007.]

Poetry

Ó Raifteiri's most enduring poems include "Eanach Dhuin" and "Cill Aodain" which are still learned by Irish schoolchildren.

Eanach Dhúin

* Kiltimagh town square features a granite memorial in honour of Anthony Raftery erected in 1985, in that same year Kiltimagh twinned with Craughwell, the final resting place of the blind Gaelic poet. [ [http://www.kiltimagh.net/people.html Raftery on Famous People from Kiltimagh] ]

* Scoil Raifteirí, an All-Irish Primary School in Castlebar, County Mayo is named in honour of the poet. [ [http://www.scoilraifteiri.com/ Scoil Raifteiri WebSite] ]

* The Raftery Room Restaurant is located in Kiltimagh Main Street [ [http://www.iol.ie/~raftery/raftery.html Ireland OnLine Raftery Room Entry] ]

References

External Links

* [http://www.museumsofmayo.com/Kiltimagh2.htm Famous Sons of Kiltimagh]
* [http://www.kiltimagh.net/people.html Raftery on Kiltimagh.net]
* [http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Antoine-%C3%93-Raifteiri Raftery on Nationmaster.com]
* [http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/Raftery.html Audio reading of Mise Raifteirí, an file]
* [http://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_%C3%93_Raifteir%C3%AD Irish Language Wikipedia page on Raifteirí]