The Midnight Court
In between his duties as a schoolmaster and winning prizes from the Royal Dublin Society for flax growing, Brian Merriman, (c.1750-1805) wrote, in 1780, Cúirt an Mheadhon Oidhche, considered by some to be the finest single poem written in Irish (S. Tuama. 1995). The Midnight Court was Frank O'Connor's translation of this work, promptly banned in 1946, while the original poem in Irish was available in government bookshops. Merriman's autograph copy is extant in Cambridge University Library, Add. MS 6562.