The Gaelic Muse
This lovely statue in Killarney pays tribute to the poets of County Kerry. I discovered it just a block from the Malton Hotel and asked the muse for a bit of inspiration. I’m a patient lass, but any time now would be good.
Wouldn’t you love to know why Pierce Ferriter was hanged? Well, I looked him up on Google:
“Piaras Feiritear, better known via the Anglicized name Pierce Ferriter, was an Irish poet who also served as an officer during the War of the Irish Confederacy, 1641 – 1652. Piaras may have been born about the year 1600, the son of Eamon Feiritear, (Edmond Ferriter)a landowner whose lands on the far western part of the Dingle Peninsula had been the Ferriter family’s homestead for about 350 years when Pierce was born.
Much of what is known or surmised regarding Pierce Ferriter the man extends from his surviving poetry. His use of the Irish language, themes, and imagery indicates that he was a man of education, and probably well taught in both English and Irish. By account he was a harpist as well as a poet. The surviving body of work represents some of the finest Irish language poetry of his era.
Less is known of his personal life. Evidence exists that he was married and from this marriage, there is known to have been children: two sons and a daughter, Dominick, Richard, and Helen. We also know that Piaras was friendly with both the nearby family of the Knight of Kerry, who were Geraldines, and the more distant FitzMaurice family – also a Geraldine line. From the Lord of Kerry (FitzMaurice) he was favored with a commission to raise an armed company from his lands and neighborhood on the Dingle Peninsula. Pierce’s arming and leading of the local citizens was to be in support of the English Crown however, rather than going to war with the Kerry Catholics, he aligned himself with the anti-English forces, and brought his men to join in the siege of Tralee in 1641.
During the siege of Tralee Peirce was wounded, and his active involvement in the fighting after the fall of Tralee is uncertain. With the fall of Ross Castle in 1652, the war in Kerry was lost, and other defeats brought the war to an end in the rest of Ireland as well. Pierce Ferriter’s sons Dominick and Richard left Ireland as “Wild Geese” under agreements made by Lord Muskerry. Pierce remained at large for almost a year, and many of the folk tales and legends surrounding his abilities as a warrior emerge from this interval. At last, in 1653, Pierce Ferriter was brought in to Ross Castle under an assurance of safety.
After an unsuccessful parley was Pierce began his journey from Killarney homeward. Somewhere near Castledrum, he was apprehended by men dispatched by the erstwhile negotiator, Colonel Nelson, and brought back as prisoner. Pursuant to a trial of which no record remains, Piaras Ferriter was hanged, presumably for having been a rebel.”
I tried to find a sample of his poetry, but came up empty handed. I’ll keep looking.
Peace, people!
Before you found what you did, kinda knowing the history of certain isles, I sort of thought, what you found would be the reason BUT like you I will look for his poetry xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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I had an inkling that rebellion played a role. You know, the Irish still harbor some hard feelings for the English. I guess I didn’t realize that it was still such a prevalent opinion.
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Oh yes indeed it is Leslie. And when you see their history you can’t aye blame them either.
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A tragic history.
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Indeed it is. There is no doubt in my mind that the famine was an act of genocide.
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It’s pretty much what my ancestors did to African slaves and native Americans.
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They might not have. Have you traced your tree?
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I know that one of my many times great grandfathers owned slaves. We have a copy of the will in which he presented each of his children a slave upon his death. Most white Americans can trace their history back to slave ownership and/or Indian removal. We had that whole “manifest destiny” thing going on.
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Well, one of my ancestors murdered an archbishop on Magus Muir. Another,was frequently in court for causing illegal distresses to his neighbours. I understand he murdered his neighbour, kidnapped the widow, wed her in order to get his mitts on her house and land, and then had his henchmen murder the sheriff’s men who had been sent to escort him to jail. Ancestors are such interesting things, very much products of their times. Fortunately these times are past and hopefully we have learned something in ourselves as people. xxxxxxx
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Wow! That’s cool in a brutal way! My dad swore that one of his uncles was sent to Alcatraz for murdering his wife, tried to escape, but died in the attempt.
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See? Brutal ancestors are cool in that ‘brutal’ way, cos we can stand back from them and think wow, that is more interesting than some boring twat who was second cuz to good two shoes.
.Your dad was probably right.
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My dad was often full of shit. But in the most wonderful way.
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Aw….. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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