Wow'sa!! Great Work!!! I'll try and rescan and see If I can help at least a little. Yes the top of each page got the worst of it in the original copy job.
It sound's much like the Fallon whose biography I'm working on. He was reputed to be an Apostate Jesuit priest who left the UK under clouded circumstances in 1774 and ended up as a radical in the American Revolution. Fallon was a rather scandalous poet in his own right and probably answered the other priest in kind.

This is so cool. This is what having a translation site is all about. Can't wait to see the result (of course, with some "help" from me.

"Diarmuid"?

I can't find my original citation from the RIA, but I do recall that the author's name was Diarmid. I sent new scans to Brendan. Thanks.

Sorry Breandán I don't mean to keep mangling your name. I used to work with a guy named Brendan so old habits die hard.

By the way, the copy that camburn scanned and the one that he sent to Breandán are different. Are they different or is it part of the same looooong poem?

Second page of a long one, Tim.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Holy . . .

cambrun, can you give us a little more context to the situation? any more names, places, exact dates?

Barra na leathanach athscanta (the rescanned tops of the pages):

_________________
Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).