Mise Raifteirí an file, gan ceann ar mo gualainn

A much-loved Gaelic bard ruthlessly decapitated by late night revellers was re-united with his missing head yesterday following an appeal to the public for help in tracing it.

Community leaders in Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, expressed delight that the granite head of late 18th-century poet Anthony Raftery, who is best known for his lyrical poem in Irish Mise Raifteirí an file, had been located.

Gardaí had been alerted to the “beheading’’ some days ago following a late-night drinks party in the Sculpture Park at the former railway station in Kiltimagh where the 6ft 4in high sculpture was located.