A naomhMuire, a mháthair Dé

[1]

A naomhMuire, a mháthair Dé,

guidh liom féin an peacach bocht,

a-nois agus uair mo bháis

is cruaidh an cás a-tá a-nocht.

[2]

Guidh go díochra do mhac féin

fa bheith dod réir, a ghnúis ghlan,

m’fhóirighthin ós é do mhian

guidh dod réir go mbiadh do mhac.

[3]

Guidh an t-athair ’s an sbiorad naomh

a-rís im thaobh, a ghrian bhan,

trí pearsana is aoinDia a-mháin,

guidh an ríghthriath slán dom char.

[4]

Díoghaltas díbhfeirge Dé—

ní hiongnadh é an uamhain orm—

ler thuilleas fala agus fíoch,

muna dtaga dhíot a chur thorm.

[5]

Seacht bpeacaidh marbhthacha im chlí,

fuaradar slí gidh cumhang an treabh,

’s comhachta ar an méid budh liom,

gan tréan ós a gcionn im chreat.

Narrative

Here are the first five quatrains of the 17th century religious poem A naomhMuire, a mháthair Dé, ‘Holy Mary, mother of God’. The metre is Rannaigheacht mhór, meaning each line of the quatrain has 7 syllables and ends on a one-syllable word. The poem is in óglachas, meaning end rhyme is required between lines band d, as well as aicill rhyme between the last word in lines a/c and an internal word in lines b/d. The poem appears in 15 manuscripts, the earliest surviving copy being in MS 24 L 6 of the Royal Irish Academy written by Eóghan Ó Caoimh in 1679 (see image linked above). Although some scribes of these MSS attribute the poem to either Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh (c.1175–1244) or Domhnall (mac Dáire) Mac Bruaideadha (fl. c. 1600), considering the number of metrical faults and post-classical forms used, it is unlikely that either of these poets composed this poem, and the true author remains unknown to us.

This religious poem was composed during the very turbulent 17^thcentury, a time of great socio-political change in Ireland, and during the time of the Irish Counter-Reformation movement which was advancing after the arrival of Protonotary Apostolic David Rothe in 1610 and the publication of Bonaventura Ó hEódhasa’s catechism An Teagasg Críosdaidhe in 1610–1614. The spreading of catechism among the general Irish population was a central aspect of the Counter-Reformation movement in Ireland, and one of the methods by which this was achieved was through the composition of poetry, such as A naomhMuire, a mháthair Dé, which details various aspects of Catholic teaching. Verse forms in the vernacular could be easily memorised, and the practice of spreading catechism as a form of penance became more widespread.

This poem deals largely with sin—including the Seven Deadly sins, and the Ten Commandments—but also includes details of the Holy Trinity and the importance of confession and penance.

The poet addresses the Virgin Mary and asks her to speak to her Son on his behalf so that the poet may be absolved of his many sins, as he is now at the end of his life. The image of Mary as a forgiving and merciful mother of all people, and as a mediatrix between God and earthly sinners, is prominent in this poem.

This composition contains some post-classical forms and gives us an insight into the changes in pronunciation of some words in the transition from Early-Modern to Modern Irish. These instances are outlined in the Detailed Guide.

[1]

A naomhMuire, a mháthair Dé,

guidh liom féin an peacach bocht,

a-nois agus uair mo bháis

is cruaidh an cás a-tá a-nocht.

[2]

Guidh go díochra do mhac féin

fa bheith dod réir, a ghnúis ghlan,

m’fhóirighthin ós é do mhian

guidh dod réir go mbiadh do mhac.

[3]

Guidh an t-athair ’s an sbiorad naomh

a-rís im thaobh, a ghrian bhan,

trí pearsana is aoinDia a-mháin,

guidh an ríghthriath slán dom char.

[4]

Díoghaltas díbhfeirge Dé—

ní hiongnadh é an uamhain orm—

ler thuilleas fala agus fíoch,

muna dtaga dhíot a chur thorm.

[5]

Seacht bpeacaidh marbhthacha im chlí,

fuaradar slí gidh cumhang an treabh,

’s comhachta ar an méid budh liom,

gan tréan ós a gcionn im chreat.

Translation

[1]

Holy Mary, mother of God,

pray for me, the poor sinner,

now and at the time of my death;

I am in dire straits tonight.

[2]

Pray fervently that your own son

be in accordance with you, o bright-faced one;

since succouring me is your will,

pray that your son will do as you would do.

[3]

Beseech the Father and the Holy Spirit,

again on my behalf, o sun of women

—three persons and one God—

beseech the royal Lord to deliver me.

[4]

The vengence of God

—no wonder is my fear—

by which I have earned spite and anger,

if you are unable to save me from it.

[5]

The seven deadly sins in my body,

more powerful than I am;

they found a way though there is little space,

and I have no strength over them in my body.

[1]

A naomhMuire, a mháthair Dé,

guidh liom féin an peacach bocht,

a-nois agus uair mo bháis

is cruaidh an cás a-tá a-nocht.

[2]

Guidh go díochra do mhac féin

fa bheith dod réir, a ghnúis ghlan,

m’fhóirighthin ós é do mhian

guidh dod réir go mbiadh do mhac.

[3]

Guidh an t-athair ’s an sbiorad naomh

a-rís im thaobh, a ghrian bhan,

trí pearsana is aoinDia a-mháin,

guidh an ríghthriath slán dom char.

[4]

Díoghaltas díbhfeirge Dé—

ní hiongnadh é an uamhain orm—

ler thuilleas fala agus fíoch,

muna dtaga dhíot a chur thorm.

[5]

Seacht bpeacaidh marbhthacha im chlí,

fuaradar slí gidh cumhang an treabh,

’s comhachta ar an méid budh liom,

gan tréan ós a gcionn im chreat.

Translation

[1]

The poem opens with a direct address to the Virgin Mary, with both naomhMuire ‘Holy Mary’ and mháthair ‘mother’ being in the vocative case. This is followed directly be an imperative phrase in Line 2, with the verb guidhidh, ‘prays/beseeches’, in the imperative mood, again addressed to Mary. The poet asks her to pray for him, and identifies himself as an peacach bocht, ‘the poor sinner’. Line 3 continues the imperative phrase detailing the time of the action, asking Mary to pray for him both now (a-nois) and at the time of his death (uair mo bháis). These first three lines are reminiscent of the Ave Maria: ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our deaths’. Line 4 is a copular phrase which also uses the verb a-tá, which shifts the emphasis of the phrase onto the adjective cruaidh, ‘difficult/dire’. In this final line of quatrain 1, the poet tells Mary how dire his situation is (i.e. being at the end of a sinful life without having performed penance or confession).

[2]

The second quatrain opens with the verb guidhidh in the imperative mood, again addressed to Mary, an action which is qualified by the following adverb go díochra, ‘fervently’. He asks Mary to beseech her Son (do mhac féin) to act as she would act (dod réir) and to show the poet mercy. Line 2 ends with an address in the vocative case, a ghnúis ghlan, ‘o bright-faced one’. Line 3 comprises of a copular phrase, structured to have m’fhóirighthin, ‘my succouring’ emphasised and to the fore (a more natural sentence structure, perhaps easier to read, would be [i]s é m’fhóirighthin do mhian), and demonstrates the poet’s belief of Mary as naturally merciful and forgiving. Line 4 once again has the verb guidhidh in the imperative and is essentially an echo of the first two lines of this quatrain.

[3]

The third quatrain, like the second quatrain opens with the verb guidhidh in the imperative, again addressed to Mary. The poet asks Mary to beseech the Father (an t-athair) and the Holy Spirit (an sbiorad naomh) on his behalf (im thaobh). This first line has one too many syllables, though one could easily imagine that it may have been the intention of the poet that the opening word Guidh would be pronounced Guí (as is it in Modern Irish). If that is the case, Guidh an would probably have been pronounced as a single syllable Guí’n. This remains a metrical fault, resulting from post-classical pronunciation of the word Guidh. Line 2 ends with an address in the vocative case a ghrian bhan, ‘o sun of women’. Line 3 describes the Holy Trinity as three entities (trí pearsana) as a single God (aoinDia a-mháin), the three entities listed in the previous lines i.e. an mac, an t-athair and an sbiorad naomh. Line 4 once again has the verb guidhidh in the imperative, and the poets asks Mary to beseech the royal Lord (an ríghthriath) to save him (slán dom char).

[4]

Line 1 opens with the noun Díoghaltas, ‘Vengeance’, which is qualified by the two following nouns díbhfearg ‘Vengeance’ and Dia ‘God’, both of which are in the genitive case here. Line 2 should be read as separate statement from the other lines, where the poet comments on his fear (uamhain) as something one shouldn’t be surprised about (ní hiongnadh é). Line 3 continues from Line 1, as the poet acknowledges that he has earned (thuilleas) spite and anger (fala agus fíoch) through God’s vengeance. Line 4 continues the statement, and he shows how he is placing his last hopes in Mary as the only person who can save him from God’s vengeance. The verb form in muna dtaga dhíot, ‘if you are not able’, is not classical, and muna thí dhíot would be expected in classical poetry. The prepositional pronoun form in a chur thorm, ‘to put it past me’ (i.e. ‘to save me from it’), is not classical either, and the disyllabic form thoram/tharam would be expected. The monosyllabic forms tharm/thorm are listed as accepted forms in Dinneen’s dictionary of Modern Irish. Line 4, if we accept the monosyllabic form thorm, still remains one syllable too long. This could potentially be resolved by changing dtaga for the correct classical verb form thí, or it is also conceivable that the poet may have intended muna to be pronounced as a monosyllable mun’, which is also listed in Dinneen’s dictionary as a poetical form of the word muna.

[5]

Line 1 opens with Seacht bpeacaidh marbhthacha, ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’, which are the subject of the verb fuaradar, ‘they found/got’, in Line 2. The poet personifies the sins as having taken possession of his body (im chlí), despite there not being much space in the 'house' (gidh cumhang an treabh; treabh being used as a metaphor for the poet’s body). The word slí in Line 2 is post-classical, where the disyllabic slighe would be expected. Changing slí to slighe would result in one too many syllables in the line, and it would also spoil the aicill rhyme between chlí in Line 1 and slí in Line 2, which implies that slí was indeed the form intended by the poet. In Lines 3 and 4, the poet claims the sins in his body are more powerful than himself, and he has no strength over them (gan tréan ós a gcionn) in his body (im chreat).

Chunk Title Goes Here, the Original Text

Definition

Form

Function