9. Noreen Bawn - Daniel O'Donnell

Written by Neil McBride (Niall Mac Gioll Bhridé), from The Daniel O'Donnell Collection, a free compilation CD from "The Irish Mail on Sunday" 2008... for educational purposes only, no copyright infringement intended.

Neil McBride (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Neil McBride (Irish: Niall Mac Gioll Bhridé; 1861-1942) was a Poet, author, and songwriter from Feymore, Creeslough, Donegal, Ireland, who gained additional notoriety for protesting a fine he received for having his name written in Irish on his business cart.[1]

Neil McBride spent his entire life in the small village of Feymore, Creeslough, He lived on Crockatee (a.k.a. 'Cruckathee'), a foothill of Muckish Mountain and earned his living as a cottier (farmer) and a poet. Neil published a book of poems in 1905 called 'Blta Fraoic' ('Heather Blossoms').[2] Neil's poems and songs became well known throughout Ireland. Some titles include: "The Hills of Donegal",[3] "Noreen Bawn",[4] "The Castle of Doe",[5] "Marble Hill" and "Mó Chró Beag ag Bun Cnoc a Tigh" ("My Little House at the Bottom of the Big Hill") [6]

On the evening of March 11, 1905, on his way home from the Dunfanaghy Fair, Neil was stopped by a 'bobby', who fined him one shilling for having 'illegible' writing on his donkey cart. All business carts were required to display its owner's name (in English), and Neil's had been defiantly written in Irish (it read, "Niall Mac Gioll Bhridé"). Neil defended himself at the Dunfanaghy Petty Session. He lost, but he refused to pay the fine and was penalized an additional shilling.

The Conradh na Gaeilge ("Gaelic League") learned of Neil's story and made efforts to help him. A league member, Patrick Pearse agreed to defend McBride, pro bono. The appeal was brought before the Court of King's Bench in Dublin. It was Pearse's first and only court appearance as a barrister. The case was lost, but it inspired Pearse as a political activist and spawned a national campaign to change British government policies towards the Irish language.[7] Pearse wrote about the court's decision in his June 27, 1905 column in the Gaelic League newspaper, An Claidheamh Soluis: "...it was in effect decided that Irish is a foreign language on the same level with Yiddish." Pearse continues in the article urging Irish people to promote the Irish Language as a form of Irish nationalism.[8]

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