The aisling, which means "dream" or "vision" in Irish and is pronounced approximately "ASH-ling," is a type of poem that began in the late 1600s and 1700s in Irish language poetry. This poetic style is often called a "vision poem." The first syllable of the word always includes a "sh" sound, though the rest of the word may be pronounced in different ways. Many aisling poems are still sung today as traditional songs called sean-nós.

History of the form

In the aisling tradition, Ireland appears to the poet in a vision as a woman from the Otherworld. This woman is sometimes young and beautiful, and sometimes old and sad. Poets often call her a "spéirbhean," which means "heavenly woman." She expresses sorrow for the current situation of the Irish people and predicts that their future will improve, usually connected to the return of the Roman Catholic House of Stuart to rule Great Britain and Ireland.

The aisling form began as a non-political type of poetry similar to the French reverdie. In this earlier form, the poet meets a supernatural woman who represents spring, nature’s abundance, and love. Another influence came from Irish mythology, where a god or goddess from the pre-Christian Tuatha Dé Danann pantheon is shown weeping for the death of a local hero.

According to Daniel Corkery, the first aisling poems in Irish were written in the early 1600s by Geoffrey Keating, a Roman Catholic priest, historian, and poet. His poem "Mo bhrón mo cheótuirse cléibh is croidhe" and his elegy for the death of John Fitzgerald in 1626 are examples of aisling poetry. In the elegy, Keating describes waking from a sleep by the River Slaney and seeing the pre-Christian goddess Cliodhna mourning John Fitzgerald’s death.

In 1653, an anonymous bard wrote a poem about the death of Piaras Feiritéar, an Irish clan leader, poet, and folk hero who was executed for fighting against the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The poem begins with the line "Do chonnac aisling are maidin an lar ghil" ("I saw a vision on the morning of the bright day"). The vision shows the goddess Erin grieving for a man who defeated many enemies.

The first known aisling poet was Aodhagán Ó Rathaille, called "father of the aisling." Under Ó Rathaille, the aisling tradition became linked to the cause of the House of Stuart and the Jacobite uprisings. He was the first to have the Otherworld woman mourn the exile of the Stuart heir.

Daniel Corkery described the aisling as Jacobite poetry. A typical example involves a poet who falls into a deep sleep, dreaming of a radiant woman. He wonders if she is a mythical figure like Deirdre, Gearnait, Helen, or Venus. She reveals herself as Erin, who grieves for her "true mate," the exiled Stuart heir. The poem ends with hope for the return of the king’s son.

Famous aisling poems include "Gile na gile" by Ó Rathaille and "Ceo draíochta i gcoim oíche" by Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin, who also wrote many works in this style.

The popular sean-nós song "Mo Ghile Mear," written by Seán "Clárach" Mac Domhnaill of County Cork, mourns the defeat of the Jacobite rising of 1745 at the Battle of Culloden. The song is a speech by the Kingdom of Ireland, personified as the goddess Erin, who describes herself as a grieving widow after the loss of her lawful king. After being popularized by Seán Ó Riada, the song became one of Ireland’s most famous. It has been recorded by many artists, including The Chieftains, Mary Black, and Sting.

In 1753, John Cameron of Dochanassie in Lochaber wrote a Scottish Gaelic aisling poem called "A Song to Doctor Cameron," lamenting the absence of Dr. Archibald Cameron of Lochiel, the last Jacobite executed for treason at Tyburn.

The character Cathleen ni Houlihan in a 1902 play was inspired by figures from aisling poetry. She is an old, poor woman who symbolizes Irish republicanism and can only be transformed into a young woman if a young man sacrifices his life for her. She also represents The Morrígan, a goddess of war and sovereignty from Irish mythology.

Later, poets like Pádraig Phiarais Cúndún updated the aisling tradition to reflect modern religious and political causes in Ireland. His work inspired Seán Gaelach Ó Súilleabháin, who adapted the aisling style to describe the Irish diaspora, the Easter Rising of 1916, and the Irish War of Independence.

In Scottish Gaelic literature, Fr. Allan MacDonald’s aisling poem "Ceum nam Mìltean" ("The March of Thousands") describes waking from a nightmare with a sense of dread about thousands of men marching to a deadly conflict. Literary scholar Ronald Black praised the poem as worthy of inclusion in World War I poetry collections.

In modern Irish-language poetry outside Ireland, Seán Gaelach Ó Súilleabháin, born on the now-abandoned island of Inishfarnard, continued the aisling tradition. He moved to the United States in 1905 and lived in Butte, Montana, where he wrote and collected Irish-language poetry until his death in 1957.

In his pre-Easter Rising poem "Cois na Tuinne" ("Beside the Wave"), Seán Gaelach meets the goddess Érin and promises that the Irish Volunteers will rise and drive the English from Ireland. He predicts a prosperous future for Ireland, the revival of the Irish language, and the return of forests and birds to the land.

In his 1917 poem "Bánta Mín Éirinn Glas Óg" ("The Lush Green Plains of Ireland"), Seán Gaelach proposes marriage to Érin and invites her to join him in "the land of music" overseas. When he vows never to leave her, Érin agrees to marry him and move to America with him.

Even after the Irish War of Independence ended in 1922, poets continued to use the aisling form in their work.

Lady Hazel Lavery posed for portraits as the embodiment of aisling figures like James Clarence Mangan’s "Dark Rosaleen" and W.B. Yeats’s "Cathleen ni Houlihan." These portraits, painted by her husband Sir John Lavery, appeared on banknotes throughout the 20th century.

Satire

In 1751, Jacobite war poet Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair, whose poetry is still remembered today in Scottish Gaelic literature, made fun of the aisling genre in his anti-Whig and anti-Campbell satirical poem, An Airce ("The Ark"). This poem was first published in Edinburgh as part of his important and new poetry collection, Ais-Eiridh na Sean Chánoin Albannaich ("The Resurrection of the Old Scottish Language"). In the poem, the Bard describes meeting the ghost of a Clan Campbell member who was beheaded for supporting the Jacobites. The ghost predicts that Clan Campbell will be punished for betraying their lawful king during the Jacobite rising of 1745. The punishment includes a repeat of the Ten Plagues of Egypt and a second Great Flood in Argyllshire. The Bard is told to build an Ark for carefully chosen Campbells. Moderates are allowed on the Ark’s decks after being forced to swallow seawater to remove their Whiggish beliefs. Redcoats from the Campbell of Argyll Militia and many Campbell tacksmen are to be tied with millstones and thrown overboard. Because of the poem’s strong Jacobite themes and others in the same collection, all known copies were collected and burned by the public hangman in Edinburgh in 1752.

Around 1780, County Clare poet and hedge school teacher Brian Merriman also made fun of aisling poetry in his comic work, Cúirt An Mheán Oíche ("The Midnight Court"). Instead of a pre-Christian goddess, Merriman describes being arrested by a large, ugly old woman while sleeping near Lough Graney. The woman takes the Bard to the ruined church at Moynoe, where Irish women are accusing men of refusing to marry and have children. After both sides argue, the judge, the pre-Christian goddess Aoibheal, rules that all men except Roman Catholic priests must marry by age 20 or face punishment. The poet avoids being punished by waking up and realizing the arrest and trial were a dream.

In his poem Aisling an t-Saighdeir ("The Soldier’s Dream"), Scottish Gaelic bard and World War I veteran Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna recalls seeing a full-grown red deer stag in the marshy hills of North Uist. He tried to shoot the animal but found it had disappeared. Instead, his Captain shouted "retreat" as the Imperial German Army attacked the Cameron Highlanders, cutting off their escape. Dòmhnall escaped just in time, but some soldiers in his unit were captured and sent to POW camps in Germany.

In Paul Muldoon’s 1983 satirical poem Aisling, written in response to the 1981 hunger strike by Bobby Sands and other members of the Provisional IRA, the goddess Erin is reimagined as a symbol of Anorexia.

Other uses

• LÉ Aisling (P23) is a ship that served in the Irish Naval Service from 1980 to 2016.
• "Aisling" is a poem by Seamus Heaney from the collection North (1975).
• The well-known Irish author Ciaran Carson has said that much of his writing is inspired by the idea of the aisling, which means a dream vision.
• Aisling Ghéar is a poem written by Breandán Ó Buachalla, a 20th-century Irish poet known for writing aisling poems.
• Some people think the melody of "Danny Boy" comes from an old song called Aisling an Oigfear. The lyrics of this song describe a message from a mother to her son, as she had to leave him behind and become part of the Irish diaspora. This song is seen as a metaphor for Ireland and the land left behind.

In popular culture

In the 2009 animated film The Secret of Kells, a main character is a girl from the Otherworld named Aisling who has a cat named Pangur Bán.