If Roisin Dubh was authored that long ago, and in such turbulent conditions, then I guess we will never be certain about the author's exact identity, and so be it.

There are reference works who maintain that Anthony Raftery wrote Roisin Dubh. To me, the timing seems off; but I don't think they are going to change their boilerplates for all that.

The Owen Roe Ward/MacWard argument appears impossible to establish more certainly. At least one reference work carefully explained that there was an entire family of bards in question, and that in fact Mac an Bhaird means son of the Bard -- how would you ever know which was which.

Not a few opinions in print point right at Red Hugh O'Donnell, he of the Flight of the Earls. The Owen Roe argument actually stems from this one, it appears, as the bardic family in question is said to have attached itself to The O'Donnell office, whichever successor of the O'Donnell family would be holding it, and to have been part of the ruler's "camp," "entourage," or whatever. The opinions I refer to here, however, come right out and say that after Red Hugh left Ireland, never to return, he authored Roisin Dubh himself in exile. How very romantic.

If anything different or interesting catches my eye on the subject, I will submit it here. However, I don't intend to make people get emotional or butt heads with each other. I only wanted to consider the controversy around the identity of the author.