Mícheál Mac Suibhne

Who is Mícheál Mac Suibhne?

Mícheál Mac Suibhne, Irish poet, fl. mid-to-late 18th century.

Mac Suibhne is most associated with Cleggan, County Galway, and also spent parts of his life in Moycullen and south of Clifden. He was known as The Bard of the West. He was highly regarded in his lifetime and afterwards, many of his songs and poems described as of considerable merit. All were composed and written in Irish, his native language. James Hardiman included some in his appendices to Iar or West Connacht of 1846, while Professor Tomas Ó Maille compiled and edited them in 1934.

Mícheál Mac Suibhne died in poverty, apparently sometime around or after 1800. His brother, Toirealfhach, was also a poet but none of his compositions survive. Toirealfhach had a son, Johnnie Terry Mac Suibhne, who resided at Newtown, Cleggan. Johnnie's son, Séamus Mac Suibhne, wrote songs in English, including The Bogs of Léana Mór.