Seo é an file a leagtar air an aoir ‘Comhairle Mhic Clamha’, a cumadh tuairim 1680, agus an dán clúiteach ‘Mo-chean do theacht, a sgadáin!’. Tá cuntas air ag Seosamh Ó Dufaigh in Comhairle Mhic Clamha ó Achadh na Muileann, 1966, eagrán atá bunaithe ar chóip Risteaird Tuibear in Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann. Ba mhac é le James Óg Ó Donnghaile, fear uasal a raibh teach aige sa tSráid Ghaelach, Ard Mhacha, i. 1618, de réir rollaí na gcíosanna, agus a mhair anuas go dtí c.1660. Meastar gur shagart ba ea Eoghan agus gurbh é an duine é a ainmníodh i liosta sagart 1704: Owen Donnelly, 55 bliain d’aois, a d’oirnigh Oilibhéar Pluincéad i 1672 i mBaile Bhalraic in aice le Dún Dealgan, áit a raibh séipéal dóibe ag an bPluincéadach. I 1680 bhí cúram cuid de pharóiste Chill Shléibhe, Co. Ard Mhacha, ar an Donnghaileach agus faoi 1683 bhí sé ina shagart paróiste i mbaile Ard Mhacha agus tá a ainm an bhliain sin ina meascsan a mhol Féidhlim Ó Néill don phríomhaíocht. Tá cuntas ar an sagart seo ag an Athair Donnchadh Mac Phóil in Seanchas Ardmhacha, 1959 (‘The Clergy of Blessed Oliver Plunkett’): ‘He was probably from South Derry or the Desertcreight (Cookstown) area of Tyrone, as his namesakes Patrick and Terence O’Donnelly were. He must have been a pupil at the schools in Drogheda, and after his ordination may have gone abroad for some years.’ Sa chuntas céanna deir sé: ‘It is interesting to note that Dr Patrick O’Donnelly who registered in 1704 had the same guarantor as Owen O’Donnelly i.e. Terence Murphy of Lurgan. This leads one to suspect that they were related.’ Bhí an Pádraig (1649–1716) sin ina easpag ar Dhroim Mór. Deir Michael McRory in Seanchas Ardmhacha, 1969 (‘Life and Times of Doctor Patrick O’Donnelly....): ‘The ballad “The Bard of Armagh” ... contains no reference to a bishop, but it is common belief that “The Bard of Armagh” was, during those years, his assumed name and the ragged garb of an itinerant musician his protection and disguise.’ Tá cuntas ar an easpag seo ag Proinsias Mac Cana in Collège des Irlandais Paris and Irish Studies, 2001. Chum Seán Ó Neachtain dán dó.

Is de bhrí gur buailte suas le ‘Comhairle Mhic Clamha’ sa lámhscríbhinn a bhí ‘Mo-chean do theacht, a sgadáin!’ a mheas Énrí Ó Muirgheasa gurbh é Eoghan Ó Donnghaile a chum an dán sin; ní chuireann Tomás Ó Rathile aon ainm leis in Measgra Dánta I, 1927. Deir an Muirgheasach freisin; ‘Is soiléir gur bráthair nó sagart a chum Dán an Sgadáin’. Is ar Ó Donnghaile freisin a leagtar ‘Áluinn dún mhic Mhuire’ (i gcló in Dánta Diadha Uladh, 1936), a ndeir Ó Dufaigh faoi go bhfuil rian an lámhleabhair diagachta air, agus ‘Aisling na Binne Boirbhe’ agus ‘Seán Ó Néill’ (in Nua-Dhuanaire I, 1971). Freagra ar dhán Dhiarmuid Mhic an Bhaird sa chonspóid faoin Lámh Dhearg is ea ‘Náir an sgéalsa tiacht do tigh’ (i gcló in Reliquiae Celticae, Texts, papers and studies in Gaelic Literature and Philology left by the late Rev. Alexander Cameron ... , 1894). Dán molta ar chruitire ó Ard Mhacha is ea ‘Mochion do theacht Fhéidhlime’ (in eagar ag Ó Dufaigh). Níor thaitin le Niall Mac Muircadhaigh, file, an tsaoirse a thugadh Ó Donnghaile dó féin sa dán díreach.

Leagtar ‘Comhairle Mhic Clamha’ ar Philib Mac Brádaigh i roinnt lámhscríbhinní agus chuir Nioclás Ó Cearnaigh ina leithsean freisin é. Deir Ó Dufaigh: ‘Stronger claims, in the light of the evidence available, can be made for a certain Eoghan Ó Donnghaile...’. Cuid den fhianaise sin is ea rúnscript i gcolafan sna lámhscríbhinní ar féidir a ainm a fheiceáil inti. D’áiteodh Ó Dufaigh orainn freisin go bhfuil cumas Uí Dhonnghaile chun grinn agus magaidh, mar atá sé sna dánta aige, le feiceáil san aoir seo, agus gur furasta a cheidiúint gur shagart a scríobh an aoir agus a bhfuil ann d’eolas ar chúrsaí na cléire; is cosúil gurb ar John McClave, sagart paróiste Achadh na Muileann a thug fianaise in aghaidh Oilibhéir Pluincéad, atá ardbhithiúnach an scéil bunaithe. Is le ‘bráthair na gColla’ atá an t-údar ag labhairt agus tuairimíonn Ó Dufaigh nach foláir nó gurbh é sin Brian mac Colla Mac Mathghamhna i Loch Éigis, an t-aon duine de sheanuaisle Gael a bhí fanta i ndeoise Chlochair go fóill; chum Ó Donnghaile a mharbhnasan tuairim 1689 (‘Trom na gártha so i Leith Cuinn’).

Deir Ó Dufaigh faoin aoir: ‘This very amusing, if hard-hitting, satire on Penal day priest and peasant has never been edited in full in spite of its frequency in manuscripts. The richness of the language and the originality of the theme are especially noteworthy although the piece shows clear traces of an earlier work, Páirlement Chloinne Tomáis. As might be expected, the satire is a little crude in places but this is more than compensated for by the author’s unfailing sense of farce and by his skill in telling his story dramatically.’ Liostaíonn Ó Dufaigh 34 lámhscríbhinn ina bhfuil ‘Comhairle Mhic Clamha’ le fáil.

Diarmuid Breathnach

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