De Nógla, Éadbhard
(fl. c.
He belonged to the Uí Mac Coille poetry court in Munster, and his poetry displays a wide knowledge of European current affairs. The poem ‘An gcualabhair sceolta leoin an deachroí’ was written after the battle of Culloden in 1746. There are numerous references to the war of the Austrian succession (1740–48) and the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in poems such as ‘Mo chumha is mo dhainid’, ‘Is cráidhte an scéal so léightear dúinn’, and ‘Ná bí in earraid liom’. The poem ‘Is bagarthach díoltach i ngeall báis’ was composed on the execution of the English admiral John Byng (1757), who had failed to relieve Majorca. De Nógla displayed a particular affection for Maria Theresa, empress of Austria, and the poem ‘Mo Uileacán Dubh Óg’ may be considered a prayer to her. She is also referred to again in ‘Tá grá agam don Spéirbhruinneall’. Ó Foghludha stated that a total of fifty of de Nógla's poems are extant in manuscripts, and he had intended to edit and publish these in Mil na hÉigse (1945). Only five of the poems were published, however. Úna Nic Einrí comments on the insight de Nógla's poetry provides of a lively mature imagination, interspersed with references to the contemporary political situation.
It is often difficult to distinguish his poems from those of his friend and fellow poet Liam Inglis (qv), although de Nógla was much older and also had a tendency to compose more love poetry than Inglis. Indeed, de Nógla made numerous references in his poetry to his old age, greyness, and loneliness. The men remained firm friends till their deaths, and de Nógla often demonstrated his esteem and respect for Inglis as a friend, poet, and priest in poems such as ‘A shalmaigh chiallmhair fhialmhair fháiltigh’. The men regularly composed poems responding to each other. After returning from Rome in 1749, for example, Inglis dedicated a poem beginning ‘A Éadbhaird aoibhinn uasail álainn’ to de Nógla, who replied with ‘Is fada mo chiach gan riar ar dhántaibh’.
With the permission of Piaras Mac Gearailt (qv), the ard-file of the Uí Mac Coille court, he issued at least one barántas (a poetical ‘warrant’, a burlesque treatment of the legal warrant, beginning with the word ‘Whereas’). Reference is also made to de Nógla in a number of barántais composed by other poets. For example, in ‘Barántas Leabhráin Sheáin Uí Mhuláin’ it is stated that de Nógla was ‘aon de bhreathúnaibh na héigse idir Chorca Mhór Mumhan et Oileán Chiarraí et fós san réim dhírigh ó Chumar glantsruthánach na Caillí go Cathair Dhúna hIasc’ (one of the judges of the éigse (academy of poets) between Cork and Castleisland, Co. Kerry, and from Cumar glanstruthánach na Caillí [=Coiscéim na Caillí?, Kishkeam in north-east Co. Cork, with its clear-flowing river] to Cathair Dhúna hIasc [Chair, Co Tipperary]). In another barántas he is called ‘aon d'ard-bhreithiúnaibh na héigse i gContae agus i gCathair Chorcaí’ (one of the high judges of the éigse in Cork county and city).
De Nógla composed a number of aisling (vision) poems, including ‘Maidin aoibhinn ar bhuíochaint gréine’ and ‘Lá ’gus mé ag taisdiol’. Other poems include ‘Cúis aoibhnis le hinsint’; ‘Pearsa duine uasail an Buachaill Gléigeal’, composed on the occasion of Standis Óg de Barra's ordination; and ‘Mo dhaichead Cúileann’, composed in honour of Neilí de Barra who married Dónall Ó Faoláin from Áth na nDéise, Co. Limerick. In a praise poem of seven quatrains in honour of John Butler (qv), who was consecrated bishop of Cork in 1763, he stated that it was not the bishop's intent to oppress the poor. He also composed a number of satires. When the Dominican Donncha Ó hÉadromáin left the priesthood in Cill Mocheallóg, Co. Limerick, in 1736 to become a protestant minister, he was satirised by de Nógla in the poem ‘A Dhoiminic dhiaga, is ciach mar scéal sin’. Tadhg Gaelach's poem ‘Peadar na Péice’ is condemned in the poem ‘Áilleán chuala luag le hÉigsibh’.
De Nógla married but appears to have been a widower for a lengthy period of time. His wife's name is unknown, but she may have been the Babaití Dálaoi in his poem of the same title.