Turas Siar 286 - Riocard Bairéad, File.

Agus adhlacu i Mainistir na Croise.

And bury him in the Monastery of the Cross.

Nochtadh leacht breá dó ann.

A fine monument was unveiled to him there.

I mí Meithimh na bliana seo

In June of this year.

Bhí borradh faoi dhaonra Chonnacht in aimsir a Mhairéadaigh.

There was a growth in the population of Connacht in Máiread’s time.

Is ionann sin is a rá go raibh líon na nGaeilgeoirí ag méadú go sciobtha san ariarthar.

That is to say that the number of Irish speakers was increasing rapidly in the west.

Tá an chosúlacht ar an scéal gur ag cruinniú NIF, a bhí i Ghaeilge i gCúige Chonnacht le linn a mhairéala murab ionann agus áiteacha eile in Éirinn.

It appears that it was at a NIF meeting, which was in Irish in the province of Connacht during its duration, unlike other places in Ireland.

Ar an taobh eile, ní raibh traidisiún láidir liteartha san iarthar i gcodarsnacht le ceantair eile sa tír.

On the other hand, there was not a strong literary tradition in the west in contrast to other areas of the country.

Na dúichí eile in Éirinn a mbíodh filíocht dhá cumadh iontu i gcaitheamh an ochtú agus an naoú haois déag ag Clár Ceantar na mBá Ciarraí Luachra Ó Rialaigh, cuir i gcás.

The other districts in Ireland where poetry used to be composed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are the Clare area of the Bays, Kerry, Luachra, Ó Rialaigh, for example.

Bhí traidisiún láidir lámhscríbhneoireachta iontu uile.

They all had a strong tradition of manuscript writing.

Bhíodh lámhscríbhinní á scríobh agus dhá gcóipeáil go flúirseach go flúirseach iontu agus go minic ba scríobhfaidh oilte na filí féin.

Manuscripts used to be written and copied abundantly in them, and often it was the skilled poets themselves who wrote them.

Ní mar sin a bhí an scéal ag imeacht, áfach.

That’s not how the story was going, however.

Filí Tuaithe

Country Poets.

Filí béil a bhí i bhfilí Chonnachta.

The poets of Connacht were oral poets.

Ní lámhscríbhinní cearta a tháinig dánta agus amhráin na bhfilí Connachtacha anuas chugainn ach ar bhéal na ndaoine.

It was not proper manuscripts that the poems and songs of the Connacht poets came down to us in, but by the word of the people.

Nuair a féachadh le filíocht Chonnacht a scríobh síos, is iondúil nárbh é litriú ceart na Gaeilge a úsáideadh.

When an attempt was made to write down the poetry of Connacht, it was usual that correct Irish spelling was not used.