Cormac Comon

Alfred Webb

1878

Comon, Cormac (or Cormac Dall, "Blind Cormac"), a celebrated Irish storyteller and bard, was born in May 1703, at Woodstock, County of Mayo. When an infant, small-pox deprived him of sight. He ultimately abandoned the harp for song, and, endowed with a sweet voice and a good ear, earned his livelihood wandering about the country, led by a grandson or other lad, relating legendary tales and reciting genealogies. The monotony of his modulation was varied by cadences introduced with taste at the close of each stanza. He composed several songs and elegies. In person he is described as large and muscular. He was still living in the County of Galway in 1786.

Sources

20. Bards, Historical Memoirs of the Irish: Joseph C. Walker. Dublin, 1786.

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