Ní Laoghaire, Máire ‘Bhuí’ (1774–c.1848), poet, was born in Túirín na nÉan, the area of Ballingeary in west Cork, one of five sons and three daughters of Diarmuid Ó Laoghaire , a farmer of fifty acres. Her mother's first name was Siobhán but her family name is unknown. Máire belonged to the ‘Buí’ branch of the Ó Laoghaire family, which once owned land under the patronage of the Mac Cárthaighs of Muskerry. She was illiterate, which was unusual for Munster poets of her time, and learned her songs from the oral tradition. Although she did not receive a formal education, her work is full of classical allusions and demonstrates that she was in contact with the literary customs of her time. She composed a wide range of poetry including pious songs, love songs, humorous songs, drinking songs, (including ‘An cruiscín lán’) and laments. Two different versions of the lament she composed for her firstborn son, Seán, are extant. Her poetry provides an insight into Gaelic popular culture and political opinion in south-west Ireland at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries.
In a comparison with poetry composed in the Munster tradition during the first half of the eighteenth century, Cullen states that the tone of her poetry is ‘distinctly more plebeian’ (Cullen, 19). Ní Urdail argues that Ní Laoghaire's political poems contain elements of millennialism and prophecy and that even though they followed the traditional form of the aisling, she used the genre effectively to drive home contemporary political arguments. Furthermore, she notes that despite the defeat of the 1798 rebellion and the act of union of 1800, Ní Laoghaire's poetry still contained a sense of optimism and was an attempt to raise the hopes of her audience. Her poem ‘Fáinne an lae’, probably composed in 1797, with its reference to the defeat of the duke of York (Frederick Augustus) at Tourcoing in 1794, demonstrates an awareness of contemporary political events on the Continent. Her aisling ‘Ar leacain na gréine’ prophesies the defeat of the English despite the failure of Hoche's 1796 Bantry Bay invasion and displays optimism even after Jacobite hopes had been abandoned: ‘Go bhfuilid ag tíocht go buidheanmhar faoi ghrán is faoi philéar’; (‘That they are coming with a large following, hateful and in battle’). There are references to help coming from ‘Laoiseach’ (Louis XVIII) and ‘Spáinneach’ (Spaniards). Her most famous song ‘Cath Chéim an Fhia’ provides an account of the bloody battle fought between yeomanry from Muskerry and the Whiteboys on 11 January 1822. The sixth stanza of the song contains a reference to Pastorini's prophecies (Bishop Charles Walmesley's (1722–97) General history of the Christian church, 1790). The song also contains biblical references and is an example of commentary on the scriptures being handed down within the oral tradition. According to folklore she composed ‘Tá gaedhil bhocht cráidhte’ on her deathbed but Ó Gráda argues that based on internal textual evidence it was composed around 1822. This song also contains millenarian references. She composed ‘A Mháire Ní Laoghaire’, a colloquy between herself and Donncha Bán Ó Loinsigh from Ballyvourney around 1843, encouraging him to continue composing poetry. It is of interest to note that a commentator in Irisleabhar na Gaeilge 7 (1896) threw doubt on Ní Laoghaire's authorship of this poem as the sentiments expressed in it were ‘almost too blood-thirsty to be expressed by a woman’ (Irishleabhar na Gaelige 7, 122).
Around 1792 she married Séamus de Búrca, a horse merchant from Skibbereen. Ó Donnchú states that she eloped with him and that they married in Inchigeelagh. They were both known for their generosity. Their children, six sons and two daughters, were all born in Inse Mór. They initially owned a small farm in Ballingeary but by 1821, according to the census, they owned 150 acres in Insí near Keimaneigh and employed both a housemaid and a house servant. They initially prospered, owning a large amount of stock and both work and racehorses, but by 1847 their luck had turned. Pope, their new landlord, increased the rent and their debts mounted. A number of their sons were on the run from the authorities after the battle of Keimaneigh and two were imprisoned for membership of an agrarian secret society; this made it more difficult to maintain the farm. The couple was evicted in 1847 and went to live in an old farmhouse belonging to their son Micheál with their son Eilic and his family. Ní Laoghaire died there either one or two years afterwards and was interred in the graveyard in Inchigeelagh.
More information on this entry is available at the National Database of Irish-language biographies (Ainm.ie).