User talk:Flanncada

I am not a historian but the description of conditions in Ireland in the 15th and 16th Centuries does not accord with any history that I have been taught. Beyond the Pale Gaelic culture held sway (witness the numerous efforts from England to suppress it). Ulster was largely the fiefdom of the O'Neills and O'Donnells and any bard wanting to would have no difficulty in expressing his love for Ireland - if it indeed, occurred to him to do so. The various Old Irish and Norman Irish chiefs were more interested in fighting each other than uniting against a common enemy. 'Irishness' was a concept more familiar to the English than the Irish until the Spanish threat inspired Elizabeth to attempt the reconquest of Ireland. Even in 1603 the combined forces of O'Neill and O'Donnell had litte difficulty in traversing the whole of Irland to beseige the English at Kinsale. The type of song (Aisling) referred to would have little relevance before the Flight of the Earls in 1607 and the subsequent palntation of Ulster. It is therefore, in my view a simple lovesong. --Flanncada (talk) 10:53, 8 September 2010 (UTC)