Antoine Ó Raifteiri

Antoine Ó Raifteiri (also Antoine Ó Reachtabhra, Anthony Raftery) (1779–1835) was an Irish language poet who is often called the last of the wandering bards.

Biography
Anthony Raftery was born in Killedan, near Kiltimagh in County Mayo. His father was a weaver. He had come to Killedan from County Sligo to work for the local landlord, Frank Taaffe. Raftery's mother was a Brennan from the Kiltimagh area. She and her husband had nine children. Anthony was an intelligent and inquisitive child. Some time between 1785 and 1788, Anthony Raftery's life took a huge turn. It all started with a cough. Soon two of the children began suffering from headaches. Another child had a high fever. A rash appeared on Anthony's hand. It caused severe itching. Soon the children were covered in that same rash. They had contracted smallpox. Within three weeks, eight of the nine children had died. One of the last things young Anthony saw before going blind was his eight siblings laid out dead on the floor.

As Raftery's father was a weaver, he had not experienced the worst of that era's poverty, but it would be much more difficult for his son to escape hardship. He lived by playing his fiddle and performing his songs and poems in the mansions of the Anglo-Irish gentry. His work draws on the forms and idiom of Irish poetry, and although it is conventionally regarded as marking the end of the old literary tradition, Ó Raifteiri and his fellow poets did not see themselves in this way. In common with earlier poets, Antóin had a patron in Taffe. One night Frank sent a servant to get more drink for the house. The servant took Antóin with him, both of them on one of Franks's good horses. Whatever the cause (said to be speeding) Antóin's horse left the road and ended up in the bog, drowned or with a broken neck. Frank banished Antóin and he commenced the life of an itinerant. According to An Craoibhín (Douglas Hyde) one version of the story is that Antóin wrote Cill Aodáin (as DH Kileadan, County Mayo, his most famous work apart from Anach Cuan, to get back in Frank Taffe's good books. Taffe however was displeased at the awkward way Antóin worked his name into the poem, and then only at the end.  Another version has it that Antóin wrote this poem in competition to win a bet as to who could praise their own place best.  When he finished reciting the poem his competitor is reported to have said "Bad luck to you Rafftery, you have left nothing at all for the people of Galway" and refused to recite his own poem.  None of his poems were written down during the poet's lifetime, but they were collected from those he taught them to by Douglas Hyde, Lady Gregory and others, who later published them. Raftery was lithe and spare in build and not very tall but he was very strong and considered a good wrestler. He always wore a long frieze coat and corduroy breeches. Ó Raifteiri is buried in Kileeneen Cemetery, near Craughwell, County Galway.

Poetry
Ó Raifteiri's most enduring poems include Eanach Dhuin and Cill Aodain which are still learned by Irish schoolchildren.

Cill Aodáin
These are the opening two verses of "Cill Aodáin";

Legacy

 * In tribute Seán Ó Ceallaigh wrote the poem "Mise Raifteirí an File" in America toward the end of the 19th century. The first four lines of "Mise Raifteiri an File" appeared on the reverse of the Series C Irish five pound note.


 * An annual festival, Féile Raiftéirí, is held in Loughrea, Co. Galway each year on the last weekend in March. Raftery spent most of his later years in townlands close to the town. The festival features a contemporary Irish language poet and promotes the native arts of Ireland. The festival ends with a visit to Raiftéirí grave in neighbouring Craughwell.


 * Kiltimagh town square features a granite memorial in honour of Anthony Raftery erected in 1985, in that same year Kiltimagh twinned with Craughwell, the final resting place of the blind Gaelic poet.


 * Scoil Raifteirí, an All-Irish Primary School in Castlebar, County Mayo is named in honour of the poet.


 * The Raftery Room Restaurant is located in Kiltimagh Main Street *


 * Raftery's Rest Public House is located in Kilcolgan,County Galway near his resting place.


 * In 2011 a feature film documenting the life of Raftery was produced by Sonta Teo for TG4, and featured Irish actor Aindrias de Staic in the lead role as Raftery.