aught poet
Raftery (1784-1835), whose compositions have been rescued by Hyde
(_Abhrain an Reachtuire_, Dublin, 1903). Torlough O'Carolan (1670-1738),
"the last of the bards," was really a musician. Having become blind he
was educated as a harper and won great fame. His poems, which were
composed to suit his music, are mostly addressed to patrons or fair
ladies. His celebrated "Ode to Whisky" is one of the finest bacchanalian
songs in any language. Michael Comyn (b. c. 1688) is well known as the
author of a version based upon older matter of "Ossian in the Land of
Youth." This appears to be the only bit of deliberate creation in the
later Ossianic literature. Comyn also wrote a prose story called "The
Adventures of Torlogh, son of Starn, and the Adventures of his Three
Sons." Brian MacGiolla Meidhre or Merriman (d. 1808) is the author of
perhaps the cleverest sustained poem in the Irish language. His work,
which is entitled the _Midnight Court_, contains about 1000 lines with
four rhymes in each line. It describes a vision in which Aoibhill, queen
of the Munster fairies, is holding a court. A handsome girl defends
herself against an old man, and complains to the queen that in spite of
all her charms she is in danger of dying unwed. Merriman's poem, which
was written in 1781, has recently been edited with a German translation
by L.C. Stern (_Zeitschrift fur celtische Philologie_, v. 193-415).
Donough MacConmara (Macnamara) (d. c. 1814) is best known as the author
of a famous lyric "The Fair Hills of Holy Ireland," but he also wrote a
mock epic describing his voyage to America and how the ship was chased
by a French cruiser. He is carried off in a dream by the queen of the
Munster fairies to Elysium, where, instead of Charon, he finds Conan,
the Thersites among the Fenians, acting as ferryman (_Eachtra Ghiolla an
Amarain, or The Adventures of a Luckless Fellow_, edited by T. Flannery,
Dublin, 1901).

During the first half of the 19th century nothing new was produced of a
high order, though the peasants retained their love for poetry and
continued to copy the MSS. in their possession. Then came the famine and
the consequent drain of population which gave Irish the death-blow as a
living literary force. The modern movement has been dealt with above in
the section on Irish language.

It remains for us to glance briefly at the later religious literature
and the collections of folk-tales. The translation of the New Testament