Aogán Ó Rathaille (c.1670–1726) was an Irish poet and ollamh. Born in Screathan an Mhíl, Co. Kerry he was trained in Latin, English, and Irish literature and history. He became a notable ollamh and toured the courts of the Irish chiefs, where he was a respected guest. As a young man he was dispossessed by the Cromwellian confiscations and made a destitute pauper. This was a source of great bitterness that drove his pen. He is credited with the creation of the Aisling, a genre of coded poetry in which a woman, typically a personification of Ireland, laments the condition of the Irish people and foretells the reversal of Irish fortunes.
