Blathmac mac Con Brettan

Blathmac mac Con Brettan [' blaθvak kon mak ' Bretan ] was an Irish monk and poet ( fili ), who worked around 760 AD. His father was Cú Brettan mac Congussa († 740), probably a king of Ind Airthir, a part of the Empire Federation of Airgíalla. The story of his father and the death in battle of Blathmacs brother Donn Bó be told in the saga Cath Almaine ( "The Battle of Alman ").

Blathmac was educated in a convent school, where he was influenced by the ascetic Celi Dé movement. Only two poems or meditations Blathmacs about the mother of Jesus Christ are preserved in a manuscript from the 17th century ( Tan cucam a Mhuire and Oh Mhaire ). In them the poet wants to explain to the readers the passion narrative with contemporary notions of Irish society of the 8th century. You are now in the possession of the Irish National Library.

Blathmacs poems are an important aid to understanding the Irish culture of the early Middle Ages.