Bardic Schools

Height 13th - 17th C
1. Universities of their day
  1. Eleanor Knott only body of contemporary Irish literature
  2. Allowed students and teachers to gain privilege and status
    1. Bardic poet part of the educated class
      1. The most distinctive aspects of Gaelic Irish society
        tradition - restrict certain professions to certain families
        Hereditary bardic families ran schools of history and poetry
        Once trained in their trade, sought the patronage of powerful clans
        Gaelic society - lineage and status NB for land and power
        patronage of hereditary bardic families was NB for ambitious lords
        preserve the memory of great men and great deeds of the past
        expected to write praise poems about their patrons
        raise their patron’s to a similarly heroic level
        Patronised by both Gaelic and Anglo Irish lords (Fitzgerald and Butler)
        Official English documents..."generosus"
        English LD, Sir John Perrot, commissioned Irish bards to “adorn and beautify the virtue of the English monarch”
        The English poet, Edmund Spencer, commented that the bardic poems were “of sweet wit and good invention”
        Bardic poet = part of the educated elite
        held in high esteem
        Poems of the bardic schools = unique - purpose and discipline
        composition and metre
        noted for their skill and intricacy
        highly technical work of the professional learned class
        schools from which they came were of great social and cultural importance
Celebrated hereditary bardic families conducted bardic schools for several generations
1. central figure of the bardic school was the ollamh or professor
  1. When he moved the school went with him
    1. Often went on circuits from chieftain to chieftain
      1. Memoirs of the Marquis of Clanrickard - 18th C
        info on the structure and operation of schools
        Admission confined - those descended from poets
        or who had “the reputation for poetic learning and talent”
        Poets of the bardic schools were both born and made
        qualifications first required were; reading well, writing the mother-tongue and a strong memory
        Training took place in residential schools
        during the winter months from the beginning of November until the end of March
        When the cuckoo’s voice was heard the school broke and the students returned to their homes.
Learning process was rigorous and exacting
1. involved years of intense training
  1. lasted between 7 and 12 years
    1. Students tested with examinations, divided into classes according to their abilities
      1. Aspiring bards studied history, law, language and literature
        Taught to compose poetry in various rigid metre
        Committed genealogies and sagas to memory
        Learned the skills of praising patrons
        Bardic schools were “far out of the reach of any noise”.
        buildings were snug, low and hot
        Without much furniture except a table and some seats
        No windows let in the light except from candles
        Ollamh would give the students a topic
        worked on topics alone then committed them to writing
        Ollamh decided...students move on new topic or rework first attempt
        Saturday and eve of festivals students went among the people
        People entertained them and gave them hospitality
        people also provided for schools with provisions
Completion of intense training and being considered accomplished
1. Bardic poet set about travelling through Ireland
  1. With their wealth of scholarship and literary sophistication
    1. Sought out the patronage of chieftains who would support them
      1. Bardic poetry = highly valued instrument for maintaining family reputations
        Commodities that could be bought and sold
        Important chiefs saw them as fashionable portraits in verse
        conferred status and they could bring quick profits for the poet
        poet’s trade to flatter and his livelihood depended on the rewards for his efforts
        Patronage system required him to “record in good metre” a record
        marriages, births, deaths, exploits and achievements of his patron and his family
Career pinnacle = become the chief poet of a great lord
1. Bard praised patron’s hospitality, bravery and wisdom
  1. Bard might receive land, rent free, as a reward for compositions
    1. Relationship between poet and patron was strong
      1. Prime position the poet held during the inauguration of his chief
      2. Also acted as a chief’s advisor
        Bards = very powerful...chiefs rewarded them well
  2. Battle rolls and lists of victories also recorded
    1. rarely names of defeated families included
      1. preserved relations between poet and any other chief they might one day come to depend
        O’Dálaigh described the function of the bardic poet with an amount of cynicism
        “In poetry for the English we promise that the Gael shall be banished from Ireland. While in poetry for the Gaels we promise the English shall be hunted across the sea”
lords also feared the poet’s power of satire
1. A poet’s disapproval expressed in verse was much feared
  1. The bard would run some risk for his satire
    1. Lord might deprive bard of land
      1. turn him in to a homeless exile
        not exclusively attached to a single chief or family
        Tadhg Dall O’hUiginn...land from Cathal O’Conner of Sligo
        Brought him to the attention of more powerful chiefs such as the O’Donnell and the O’Neill
        Tadgh Dall lived at the high point of the bardic tradition
        Knott....a better representative of Irish bardic poetry could not be found
        Verses show a mastery for forms and style which has rarely been excelled
        Met his end as a result of his satire
        Accused O’Hara’s of abusing his hospitality in one of his poems
        took offence and cut out his tongue
        When addressing a lord other than his own he would include a stanza in praise of the latter
        preserved by the family of the chief being addressed
        not uncommon for the additional stanza to be omitted by the transcriber
        Every family would keep collections of the elegies of its members
        Size of lord’s poem book or Dúanaire = indicator of generosity and prowess
        obituaries...size of the deceased Dúanaire = commented on.
English officials credited bardic poets with power for mischief
1. Offered advice but also gave offence and provocation
  1. commented on arrival of newcomers and the reception, hospitable or hostile, that they received
    1. Knott questioned political power...claims it has been over rated
      1. Changes in bardic poetry offer insight into changes in Gaelic society
        16th C poetry = proud and confident
        Anti-poet statute in 1549
        LD, John Perrot decreed “all bards, rhymers and common idle men are to be spoiled of all their goods and to be put in stocks until they leave that wicked trade and fall to another occupation”
        Suffered after Flight of the Earls
        Period of plantation many bards went down market
        less attention on strict rules of metre
        Hawked wares to wider audience to survive
        17th C tone and content changed
        lamented passing of the great houses and their own influence
        Collapse of the old Gaelic order
        doomed the bardic schools to closure
        Once enjoyed many privileges
        Belonged to the social elite
        Patrons dispossessed
        Became impoverished
        Proud embittered vagabonds

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	Created by Niamh Moloney almost 7 years ago