Mac Cárthaigh, Eoghan ‘an Mhéirín’ (‘of the little finger’) (c.1690–1756), poet, was born near Aherla, Co. Cork, son of Diarmaid Mac Cárthaigh, a great-grandson of Tadhg an Dúna Mac Cárthaigh, chief of the Dunmanway or Gleann an Chroim branch of the MacCarthys and a prominent confederate commander in the 1640s. Nothing is known of his mother, but he is believed to have had at least two brothers, Cormac and Tadhg, and a sister, Máire. Mac Cárthaigh appears to have received a good education and was literate in both English and Irish, as well as being well versed in the traditional genealogies of leading Irish families. A prosperous family background is also suggested by his occupation as a millwright, and the sobriquet ‘an Mhéirín’ is thought to have been inspired by his skill as a draughtsman.
Mac Cárthaigh was one of those who participated in what has been called the Blarney court of poetry – a series of irregular gatherings at which poets from the east Cork region met to hear and discuss each other's compositions. Uilliam Rua Mac Coitir (qv), Éamonn de Bhál (qv), and Seán na Ráithíneach Ó Murchadha (qv) were among the more important members of the ‘court’ who were contemporaries of Mac Cárthaigh, and he is known to have been acquainted with Piaras Mac Gearailt (qv) from Ballymacoda, Fr Pádraig Ó hIarlaithe from Ballyvourney, and the Co. Kerry poet Diarmaid Ó Súilleabháin – a wide geographical spread which suggests that his work as a millwright involved travel throughout Co. Cork and wider afield. Likewise, the three songs that he is known to have composed in English include one entitled ‘The charms of Limerick’. His significant works in Irish that can be dated include a poem (‘Fáilte cléibh gan chlaon óm chroí’) composed to welcome Denis McCarthy of Cloghroe, an Irish officer in the French service, on his return to Ireland in 1720; an elegy (‘I bhfís tarfás an tráth noch léigeas’) of more than 200 lines for the exiled Jacobite Donogh MacCarthy (qv), earl of Clancarty, who died at Hamburg in 1734, that takes the form of an allegorical aisling in which the poet encounters a weeping spéirbhean personifying Ireland; a song (‘Go stiúra Mac Dé thú, a Shéarlais go comhachtach’) of two distinct parts that may originally have been independent works – the first section prays for the success of Prince Charles Edward's Scottish campaign of 1745–6 while the second laments its failure; and an elegy composed on the death of Tadhg Rábach (Thaddeus) MacCarthy, catholic bishop of Cork and Cloyne (1727–47). A Jacobite aisling of uncertain date (‘Aréir ar mo leaba im thaomaibh gan tapa’), as well as two romantic and non-political aislingí (‘Go moch is mé im aonar gan aoin im chomhair’ and ‘Lá dar éiríos ag déanamh aeir dom’) have also been attributed to him.
Mac Cárthaigh did not marry and is not known to have had any children. He died at Aherla and his death was noted a week later in Faulkner's Dublin Journal of 7 February 1756, where he was described as ‘an eminent poet, historian, and herald’.
More information on this entry is available at the National Database of Irish-language biographies (Ainm.ie).