Raifteirí and the Bohola connection
Raifteirí
agus
Both Thóla
Tradition has it that Raifterí attended a hedge school in Bohola.
Cé gur rugadh Antaine Raifterí i Lios Ard in aice le
Cill Aodáin is i Both Thóla a oileadh é i scoil chlaí.
Mar is eol dó beagnach gach duine buaileadh Antaine leis an ngalar
bolgach agus fágadh é gan radharc na súl. Ní
raibh sé ach naoi mbliana daois ag an am sin. In ainneoin sin d'fhreastal
sé ar an scoil i Tuaitheanáin agus d'fhoghlaim sé
roinnt poitreanna ar an bfhidil comh maith. Raifterí was born
around 1784 in Lisard close to Killedan House. His father was a cottier
on the estate of Frank Taffe and it was there in the Landlord's house
that Raifterí found himself on that fateful evening when his life
was changed forever. It was the night of a big party in Cill Aodain House.
The wine ran out. Frank Taffe, the landlord sent a servant to Kiltimagh
for more alcohol. Raifteri decided to go also taking Taffe's best horse
with him. At a turn in the road the horse tumbled into a ditch breaking
its neck. Taffe was out of his mind with anger and decided to expel Raifteri
from Cill Aodain for ever.
Raifteiri's last night in Cill Aodain
All evening he played his fiddle, and recited poems while the landlord
and his guests drank wine and ate food to their hearts content. After
a while the landlord sent Raifterí and a servant to Kiltimagh to
fetch some more wine. They each brought a horse, Raifterí chosing
the finest one of all, Frank Taffe's own, favourite horse. As the two
men raced along the road, Raifterí's steed stumbled into a ditch
and broke its neck. With heavy hearts, Raifterí and the servant
returned to Frank's house. When Frank heard what had happened, he was
outraged, and expelled Raifteri from Cill Aodáin for ever more.
I'll finish with a poem I wrote myself:
Ag Siúl
Is maith liom dul ag siúl,
síos go dtí an loch.
Is maith liom dul ag siúl,
Sa samhradh go moch.
Tá na lachain ag snámh san uisce,
Tá gach rud go breá,
Is maith liom dul ag siúl,
Go dtí an loch gach lá.
Le: Móna Ní Aidicin, Rang VI
