Bardic poets occupied a very important role in Irish society from the pre-Christian period until the seventeenth century, with many texts surviving. Bards used highly formalised, complex poetic language to memorise and retell the history and traditions of the tribe or area they worked in, including detailed genealogies and life-stories of the elite.
In order to become a bard, would-be scholars attended special schools that were often restricted to particular families, with students subjected to arduous training, which included having to commit lengthy poems to memory, as well as writing them down.
Bardic poets were held in such high esteem that when they cursed their employers’ adversaries, it was believed that their words could even have the power to do harm.
Modern Irish people still admire and respect both poets and members of the general public who are good at using words to praise their allies or declaim their foes. While taken less seriously than before, inventive cursing still plays a role in modern Irish discourse.
Photo Source: https://meathhistoryhub.ie/o-dalaigh-bardic-poets-their-poetry-and-their-patrons/
