All West Cork children of a certain era can quote one poem by rote from their school days – the ‘Lough Ine Poem’. This famous verse was written by a man called Michael Fitz-James O’Brien who was described in his obituary as an ‘Irish Bohemian / American Fantasist’

Fitz-James O’Brien was a direct descendant of the famous ‘Fineen The Rover’, the last great O’Driscoll chieftain of the seventeenth century. An only child, he was the son of the County Coroner for Limerick who had strong West Cork connections.

Educated at Trinity College Dublin, Fitz-James went to London around 1849 where he ‘squandered’ most of his inheritance in the first two and a half years and also began publishing a ‘large number of poems, stories and articles’ in Irish, Scottish and English periodicals before emigrating to America in 1852.

In 1862 Fitz-James was shot in the shoulder and died seven weeks later after tetanus had set in and a surgery to remove his arm was unsuccessful. He was interred in a tomb in Greenwood Cemetery in New York accompanied by an guard of honour and attended by his editor and literary executor and his intimate friend Aldrich, the Vanity Fair Illustrator Edward Mullen and the actress Matilda Heron. In November 1874, his remains were removed and buried in Grave 1183, Lot 17,263.

In memory of Fitz-James O’Brien and his noble West Cork ancestors – Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha. They are not forgotten …