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Irish poet Hugh Mac Gauran (Aodh Mac Gabhrain) wrote ‘Plearaca na Ruarcach’, a piece commemorating a feast held in 1588 in the Great Hall of the castle of Dromahaire, County Leitrim, by the Irish chieftain Brían na Murtha Ó Ruairc, Prince of Breffni. Mac Gauran suggested that Turlough O’Carolan compose music to go along with his poem, and this tune is the result. The original poem was also translated into English by satirist Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels.
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