Micheál Ó Conghaile, Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 scribe

Scribe

A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps the city keep track of its records. The profession, previously found in all literate cultures in some form, lost most of its importance and status with the advent of printing...

  fl. 1878-1892.

Ó Conghaile transcribed poetry, including Dán na Gaoithe Móire {Night of the Big Wind

Night of the Big Wind

The Night of the Big Wind was a severe European windstorm which swept without warning across Ireland on the night of January 6 - January 7, 1839, causing severe damage to property and several hundred deaths; 20% to 25% of houses in north Dublin were damaged or destroyed, and 42 ships were wrecked...

) and Dán an cholera

Cholera

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

. He also transmitted poetry by Antoine Ó Raifteiri

Antoine Ó Raifteiri

Antoine Ó Raifteiri was an Irish language poet who is often called the last of the wandering bards.-Biography:...

 and old folk poems. He died ar thaoibh an bhóthair near the National School of Ballinderreen in the parish of Cummer, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

.

One scholar who examined his manuscripts, Tomás de Róiste, despaired of understanding Ó Conghaile difficult script, saying "The handwriting is something terrible to make out ... I had it 4 years and found it a Chinese puzzle!"

Reference

• Scríobhaithe Lámhscríbhinní Gaeilge I nGaillimh 1700-1900, William Mahon, in "Galway:History and Society", 1996