O’Rahilly’s Grave (Slow Air) – Muckross Abbey, Killarney, Co. Kerry – Tony’s Musical Journeys

Aodhagán Ó Rathaille tomb / Four Kerry poets memorial, Muckross Abbey, Co. Kerry, Ireland, July 2014.

O’Rahilly’s Grave (Slow Air)

The quiet Muckross Abbey: another trip down the memory lane brings us three miles down the road from Killarney to one of my favourite places ever. Killarney National Park is a gem in itself which I’m yet to explore fully despite having been there a number of times in summer and in winter. But it’s also got layers upon layers of history for a visitor to unpack, with one of such rich sites being the 15-century Franciscan friary that houses a memorial plaque to the Four Kerry Poets, over a tomb where the poet Aodhagán Ó Rathaille may or may not have been buried. The evocative and introspective slow air O’Rahilly’s Grave, which I learned from the playing of Julia Clifford, immediately comes to mind. So here I am in Muckross Abbey, trying to make it justice on the tinwhistle.

Of the four poets listed on the plaque (Piaras Feiritéar, Séafraidh Ó Donnchadha an Ghleanna, Aogán Ó Rathaille and Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin), Ó Rathaille is said to have invented the Aisling poem genre while Eoghan Rua perfected it. It’s no coincidence that another memorial to the Four Poets in Killarney is in the form of a female figure called Spéir Bhean. I should pay it a closer attention next time I’m (hopefully) in Killarney.

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