Amongst the collection of bardic poetry from the medieval period there are several compositions dedicated to the Meic Conmara lords of Clann Chuiléin, who were the leading dynastic lineage in east Co. Clare and whose territory encompassed the baronies of Bunratty and Tulla. They were composed by members of the Uí Mhaoilchonaire, Uí Mhóirín, Meic an Bhaird and Meic Craith (Clann Chraith) learned lineages. The latter family were an important medieval dynasty of learned men and churchmen in Thomond and elsewhere in Munster. A fourteenth-century poet of that family and his composition, Coin airdfhiadhaigh Clann Choiléin, which eulogizes the Meic Conmara, form the chief subject matter of this paper.

Clann Chruitín were among the most notable learned kindreds in Co. Clare in the late medieval period. They featured among the aos dána, the Gaelic learned class who specialised in, as the annals assert, ‘senchas agus le seinm’. Holding hereditary lands in west Co. Clare on the margins of the Atlantic coast, they attained the status of ollamhnacht in history (seanchas) and music (seinm) from the fourteenth century. Remarkably, learned members of Clann Chuitín continued to be associated with literary activity of he native tradition until the mid-nineteenth century when Séamas Mac Cruitín, self-described as ‘the last relic of the hereditary bards of Thomond’, died.

A poem on the life of St Breacán sheds light on the use of literary devices to advance proprietorial interests in the late medieval diocese of Killaloe. The poem enumerates land grants and dues that, taken together, represent a charter of rights owed to the saint and his coarb (comharba). Previous analysis of the poem indicates that it was produced at Clare Abbey under the auspices of Clann Chraith (the McGrath lineage), who were the hereditary abbots during the 15th century. An assessment of the available evidence not only adds weight to this proposal but also reveals the probable impetus behind the poem: a need to bolster allegiances and revenues owed to Clare Abbey by neighbouring ecclesiastical sites in the face of waning influence. A comparative analysis of a poem on the rights of St Molaise of Devenish, Co. Fermanagh, will show that the use of hagiographic poetry as a tool of policy was not unique to Thomond and was in use in other late medieval Gaelic Irish lordships. 1

Clann Chraith (MGraths) of Munster were a pre-eminent literary family whose activities spanned eleventh to seventeenth century. As a hereditary learned family, their professional specialisation was in seanchas (historical lore) and filidheacht (poetry). From the late eleventh century their standing can be ascertained from the fact that they served as court poets to the royal Ui Bhriain dynasty. This paper investigates their bardic school which was established in the late medieval period at Burgess in south Tipperary. Their connections with north Waterford and the Sliabh gCua district is also investigated.