Samuel Ferguson was born in Belfast in 1810 and after studying law at Trinity College settled in Dublin (WP | paywalled 1886 Memoriam). Some of his poems were based on the pre-Celtic myths, such as ‘Tain Quest‘ on the Táın Bó Cúaılgne, and ‘Congal‘ on the Cath Mhaıgh Rátha. (Ian Adamson later (in 1980) published Ferguson’s Congal as The Battle Of Moira, which featured a cover by Jim Fitzpatrick – see the end of the Visual History page on Fitzpatrick).
Words from Ferguson’s poem ‘Conary‘ (one of the Lays Of The Red Branch) are included at the base of the Dalaradia Window, a free-standing piece of stained glass in the Linen Hall Library (web): “Robed in red mantles and with caps of red/No swords had they, nor bore they spear or shield/But each man on his knee a bagpipe held.”
The image above shows the bó at the centre of the Táın, Donn Cúaılgne (the brown bull of Cooley), at the centre of Window, which is shown complete below; the other elements of the Window are detailed in this Dalaradia publication (pdf). A painted version of the Window can be seen in Kragfargus Cultural Corner.
Click image to enlarge
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