The reopening of Barryscourt Castle presents an opportunity to introduce the audience to poetry that was not just dedicated to the restorers of Barryscourt Castle in the 1590s - Dáibhídh Óg de Barra (d. 1604) and his father (David FitzJames de Barry (d.1517) - but that was written about and performed in that very castle.

For today’s talk, the MACMORRIS Project members, comprising of Professor Pat Palmer, Phil Mac a' Ghoill, Deirdre Nic Chárthaigh, and Evan Bourke, will focus on two poems dedicated to the Barrys, one by their court poet Domhnall (mac Taidhg) Ó Dálaigh, and another by the poet whose name is no longer known. Professor Palmer will introduce the material and provide some background details to their creation, and the Gaelic scholars on the project will recite short extracts from the poetry in Classical Irish (with translations, of course).

The Ó Dálaigh poem-of-counsel to the young Dáibhídh Óg de Barra, Beannacht duit, a Dháibhíth óig, offers a beautifully intimate portrait of the education and expectations of a young Munster nobleman growing up during the Tudor wars of conquest. The second poem, the now anonymous Teallach coisreagtha críoch Bharrach, offers remarkable detail about the domestic space and lifeways of the Barrys, their land, their castles, and the intellectual, spiritual, and material culture in which they flourished.

Both of those poems are featured on the deep map which forms part of Maynooth University’s MACMORRIS Project website. By talking a little bit about the deep map, focusing on the neighbourhood of Barryscourt itself, the session will attempt to situate the Barrys in their wider social and political context, as they tried to resist and/or accommodate themselves to a tumultuous time of change, and navigated their way through war, conquest, and colonisation.

www.macmorris.maynoothuniversity.ie

Please note: As parking in the grounds of the Castle is strictly limited, a courtesy return shuttle bus will operate between Carrigtwohill Railway Station and Barryscourt Castle. The service to the Castle will run every hour from 10.05am to 4.05pm, and the return service will run from the Castle to Carrigtwohill Station every hour up to 7.30pm.