It is likely that Peadar Ó Doirnín was born in 1704 at Raskeagh, in County Louth. He was undoubtedly one of the finest Gaelic poets of the eighteenth century, and spent some of his ilfe as a Hedge School master in the South Armagh region.
Although many details of his life have been forgotten, at least twenty of his poems are extant and may be read in the two collections of his work that were published in 1969 under the editorship of Breandán Ó Buachalla and Seán de Rís. He was buried on 5th April, 1769. Tradition has it that his grave is in Urney, and here in 1969, Éigse Oirialla unveiled an inscribed stone pillar during a festival of commemoration held in his honour.
Cnoc Chéin Mhic Cáinte is named after Cian, son of Cáinte, of Irish mythology. It tells of a lover's pleading with a loved one to flee with him. The present name of the spot is Killen, about two miles north of Dundalk, County Louth.
The Poem Úr-Chnoc Céin Mhic Cáinte