Créachta Crích Fódla

Créaċta Críċ Fódla0 The Wounds of Fodla
Is atuirseaċ gear liom créaċta críċ Fódla1 Woeful and bitter to me are the wounds of the land of Fodla,
Fá sgamall2 go daor ‘sa gaolta clí-ḃreóiġte; Who is sorely under a cloud whilst her Kinsfolk are heartsick;
Na cranna baḋ ṫréine3 ag déanaṁ dín dóiḃ sin The trees that were strongest in affordine them shelter
Do gearraḋ a ngéaga4 ‘r a bpréaṁa crín-feoiġte. Have their branches lopped off and their roots withering in decay.

Cé fada ḋuit, 'Éire,5 ṁaorḋa, ṁín-nósṁar, Long though thou hast been, O majestic, gentle-mannered Erin,
Ad’ ḃanaltrain tséiṁ le féile is fíor-eólus, A fair nursing-mother with hospitality and true knowledge;
Beir feasda ad’ ṁéirdrig fé gaċ críon-ċóisir, Henceforth shalt thou be an unwilling handmaid to every withered band,
‘S gaċ ladrann coṁaiṫeaċ6 b’éis do ċlí ḋeóltaḋ. While every foreign boor shall have sucked thy breasts.
Is mar ḃarra air mo ṁéala, feuċ gur díol deóra, And to crown my sorrow, behold it is a fit subject for tears,
Go ngaḃann gaċ récs don réim sin Roinn Eoruip7 That every King of the dynasties who divide Europe amongst them
A ḃairrḟionn tais féin go saoġalta síṫeóilte, Possesses his own fair, gentle spouse in prosperity and peace,
Aċt Banba a bpéin gan céile is í posta! While Banba is in pain without a consort, wedded though she be.
Do Ċailleamar préim-ṡlioċt Néill is síol Eogain, We have lost the root-stock of Niall and the seed of Eoghan,
Is na fearaċoin8 tréana, laoċra ríoġaċt Bóirṁe, And the bold champions, the warriors of the kingdom of Boruṁa;
Den Ċaraṫ-ḟuil9 ḟéil, mo léan, ní’l puinn béo aguinn! Of the hospitable race of Carthach, woe is me! we have not many alive,
Ná ṁaiṫe na nGaeḋeal do b'éaċtaċ gníoṁ coṁraic.10 Nor of the chieftains of the Gael who were of renowned feats in battle.
Is dearḃ gurab é gaċ éigion íogcóra,11 In sooth it is every violence of injustice on our part,
Ganguid is éiṫeaċ, claon is díoṫ-ċóṁall, Deceit and falsehood and treachery and dishonesty,
Gan ceangal le ċéile, aċt raobaḋ rínn-sgórnaċ, Our want of union, and, instead, the tearing of each other’s throats,
Do ṫarraing ar Éirinn12 fraoċ an Ríoġ ċoṁaċtaig. That have drawn down on Erin keenly the rage of the Mighty King.
Dó ċailleamar Éire is méad ár mío-ċoṁṫrom, Since we have lost Erin, and because of the extent of our misfortunes,
Is treasgairt na laoċ mear, treun, nár ṁí-ṫreóraċ, And because of the overthrow of the nimble, strong warriors, who were not wanting in vigour,
Air Arad-Ṁac13 Dé ‘s air ṫreun na Tríonóide We entreat the noble Son of God and the Might of the Trinity,
Go mairfiḋ bá n-éir an mead so ḋíoḃ beó aguinn. That those of them who are alive with us may thrive after them.
Ċailleadar Gaoḋail a dtréiṫe caoin córaċ, The Gaels have lost their gentle, comely qualities;
Carṫanaċt, féile, beusa, is bínn-ċeólta; Charity, hospitality, manners, and sweet music;
Alla-tuirc14 claon do ṫraoċ sinn faoi ṁór-smaċt; Wicked, alien boars it was that forced us under great oppression;
Agallaim Aon-Ṁac Dé air Gaoiḋil15 d’fóirṫin. I beseech the Only Son of God to grant relief to the Gaels.

Taken from Dánta Aoḋagáin Uí Raṫaille “The Poems of Egan O’Rahilly”, Translated by Patrick Dinneen and Taḋg O’Donoġue, 2nd ed., 1911

  1. 0.Of this poem there are several partial copies. There is a copy containing all the stanzas given here in vol. 69 of the Renehan MSS. in Maynooth College. The piece, however, seems naturally to end with the sixth stanza. 23.C.8, p.99, gives as heading: "An fear céadna cct. iar mbrise na gcoinġoill do Ġallaiḃ do ro Ġealladar i Luimneach 1692." In 23.D.8. styled "Marna na hĖireann." ↩
  2. 1.Some MSS. read Is atuirseaċ géar. Críċ Fódla is taken as one word, hence críċ is not put in gen. The dat. (críċ) is often used instead of the nom. (críoċ) in nouns belonging to the second decl. ↩
  3. 2.*sgamail, D.8. ↩
  4. 3.ba ṫréan, B.38. Na cranna, metaphorical for "great families." ↩
  5. 4.*A ngéag. Most MSS. have the pl. géaga, which gives an extra syllable. Some have géaḋa, a softened form of géaga. Crín Feóiġte in some MSS. ↩
  6. 5.‘Éire, for a Éire, the a being absorbed by the initial vowel. ↩
  7. 6.Caéṫaċ for coiṁiġṫeaċ, generally pron. caoiṫeaċ. ↩
  8. 7.Roinn Eóroip, the Continent of Europe; it is not declined. Deréim ċirt, of the true sovereignty. Gaċ récs, all the kings. ↩
  9. 8.Fearaċoin, pl. of fearaċú, i.e., fearċú. ↩
  10. 9.Carraṫ-ḟuil. Some MSS. have caruid-ḟuil. The word cárrṫaċ is sometimes trisyllabic, carraṫaċ; cf. feárr, fearra. ↩
  11. 10.Some MSS. and First Edition read Is fada sinn tréiṫ fá léir-scrios ḃuiḋin Leópaid: "And long have we been helpless under the devastation of Leopold’s band." ↩
  12. 11.Íogcóraċ, gen. of íogcóir or éagcóir, "wrong, injustice." ↩
  13. 12.Ar Éirinn. Some MSS. give go faoḃraċ. ↩
  14. 13.Mí-ċóṁṫrom, "injustice, inequality of treatment." ↩
  15. 14.Arrad-Ṁac, i.e., Ard-Ṁac, see note 9.
    The form of "wishing" in lines 23-4 is general in Irish; cf. the following from Donnċaḋ Caoċ Ó Maṫġaṁna: ‘S an té do ġairm díom Splinc, ar Ċríost nár ḟeiciḋ sé splannc‘.     ↩
  16. 15.Alla-ṫuirc = all-ṫuirc. ↩
  17. 16.Gaoiḋil, nom. for dat. ↩