Cín Lae Amhlaoibh

Cín Lae Amhlaoibh is a diary written by Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin (1780–1837) between the years 1827 to 1835. It is invaluable for the insight it gives into life in rural Ireland in the early 19th century, and is a rare example of an early modern diary written in the Irish language. Amhlaoibh's original manuscript is currently in the possession of the Royal Irish Academy.

Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin (May 1780 – 1838), also known as Humphrey O'Sullivan, kept a diary which was later published as Cín Lae Amhlaoibh. He was involved in Daniel O'Connell's Catholic Emancipation movement and the lives of the poor in County Kilkenny. Him and his father, Donncha Ó Súilleabháin, established themselves as teachers in Callan and the surrounding towns.

Though he was clearly a master of English, his diary is mostly in Irish. His diary shows him to have had a deep interest in the natural world, and there are daily references to the weather. He mostly eschewed the archaisms favoured by other writers in Irish, writing in a fluent, flexible, colloquial style which could encompass both concision and literary elaboration.

Amhlaoibh's original manuscript is currently in the possession of the Royal Irish Academy. An edition of the complete manuscript was published as Cinnlae Amhlaoibh Uí Shúileabháin by M. McGrath in 1936-37 and an abridged and annotated edition (Cín Lae Amhlaoibh) by Tomás de Bhaldraithe in 1970-1973. A translation (The Diary of an Irish Countryman) was published by de Bhaldraithe (Mercier Press) in 1979.

It remains one of the most important sources for 19th-century Irish life and one of the few surviving works from the perspective of the Roman Catholic lower and middle classes.

"27 June 1827

...I saw two water wagtails hopping and flitting within a yard fried chicken of a cat which was crossing the road. They were noisily mocking the cat, which kept glancing from one side to the other at them. The poor man does the same to the tyrant when he gets the opportunity – just as the birds do to the cat."