Brian Merriman or in Irish Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre (c. 1747 – 27 July 1805) was an Irish language Bard, farmer, and hedge school teacher from rural County Clare. His single surviving work of substance, the 1000-line long Cúirt An Mheán Oíche (The Midnight Court), is often compared to the works of François Rabelais. It is widely regarded as the greatest work of comic verse in the history of Irish poetry.