A theachtaire tig ón Róimh ("Messenger, come from
Rome") is a poem "somewhat doubtfully attributed to
Giolla Brighde Mac Con Midhe"
The poem insists upon the need for
genealogy to "preserve due class distinctions in Irish society, while the versifying of battle deeds guarantees immortal fame for the chieftains concerned."
Extracts
The suppression of encounters and battles of the men of Ireland would be a faulty matter:
there would be no interest shown in prince nor noble descendants after their death, though their courage had been good ...
If poems did not preserve all that they had done, even though they were noble heroes,
there would long since have been a cloak of silence upon Niall, Conn and Cormac ...