Tír, tráig, tuile | land, strand and tide:Colum Cille and the poetics of place

Abstract

This contribution explores poetry in the voice of St Columba, and in particular poems in which he expresses love of particular places. While Columba voices the feelings of the exile in many of these poems, this is not the only way in which they build the idea of place. One poem, Mellach lem bith i n-ucht ailoin expresses a different sort of delight, and it is argued that this is likely a poem about Iona. Finally, the way in which the poetic voice of Columba can be seen as an early example of the Gaelic trope of cianalas is discussed.