Gaelic literature

Latin had been used extensively in the Gaelic lands, with the advent of Christianity, however, the Gaels were in the vanguard as regards using their own language to write literary works of merit.

Before the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, the Gaels had a limited level of literacy in Primitive Irish.

This manifested itself in ogham inscriptions in wood and stone; typically memorials to the dead or boundary markers.

It is written in a very early form of the Sean-Ghaeilge, and the meter has an old-fashioned appearance, more so than the rest of the literature of this period.

Experts think that it was composed by Dallán Forgaill, towards the end of the 6th century, when Colm Cille had died.