East Cork poet's manuscript presented to Cork City and County Archive

A MANUSCRIPT written by a 19th century east Cork poet in which he extolls in verse the virtues of a newly arrived hedge school teacher in Midleton has been presented to the Cork City and County Archive by the members of Carrigtwohill and District Historical Society.

The manuscript was hand-written in ink by Davy Barry (Dáibhí de Barra), who was also known by his local nickname, Dath an Ghleanna or Davy of the Glen.

“Dáibhí de Barra or Davy Barry of the Glen lived in the area between 1757/8 and 1851 and he was a prose writer, scribe, and poet in Irish,” said society vice-secretary Tony Ó Floinn

Davy had been born in Woodstock in Carrigtwohill, the son of Davy, who was a tenant farmer on the Earl of Barrymore’s estate.

The 92-line poem was written, it is believed, in 1825 and, after Davy’s death in 1851, was taken by a relative John Doherty who emigrated to the USA in 1870. It was handed down across the generations until it reached a fourth generation descendant of John, Paul Doherty who decided that it should be put on view to the public in his native Cork.

“In 2019, we unveiled a headstone to Daibhí de Barra on the family plot where’s he believed to be buried and Paul Doherty came to this ceremony and, afterward, he presented us with the manuscript,” said Mr Ó Floinn.

The Carrigtwohill and District Historical Society arranged for the manuscript to be bound by Muckross Bookbinders, a firm that specialises in dealing with historical documents, and the bound document was presented to the Cork City and County Archive at Cork City Hall recently.

“It was unusual that Dáibhí wrote this in English as he was mostly known for his writing in Irish,” said Mr Ó Floinn, remarking that there was a particularly rich Irish language tradition in the area around Carrigtwohill.

Carrigtwohill and District Historical Society secretary André Saubolle said Davy was known as a scholar and a poet during his lifetime but is admired latterly for his prose writings and translations.

“As a scribe he was industrious, devoting much of his Sundays to learning after working his farm all week, and 13 complete manuscripts have come down to us from his hand, mainly from the period 1821–35.”