Tarlach Rua Mac Dónaill

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Tarlach Rua Mac Dónaill (fl. early 18th century) was an Irish poet from Derrylasky in the parish of Donaghmore, County Tyrone. He lived in the first half of the 1700s and wrote Seachrán Charn tSiadhail, a poem that became very popular in Gaelic Ulster. The work survives mainly through oral tradition and two manuscripts, with many versions containing more than fifty-seven eight-line verses (the original was probably only a few lines). The poem tells of a young man trying to impress a girl by listing all the jobs he has held and the places he has visited.

According to tradition, Mac Dónaill was shot at the age of 23 by soldiers from Altmore barracks. A well-known tale says his father came to bring home the body and had an ash twig in his hand. He planted the twig in the ground, forgot about it, and left with his son's corpse. The twig is said to have grown into a very large tree, and after sixty years it covered a square perch.