Irish philologist and antiquary
Eugene O'Curry
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Photograph taken of Eugene Curry circa. 1850.
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Born
| (
1794-11-20
)
20 November 1794
Doonaha, near
Carrigaholt
,
County Clare
, Ireland
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Died
| 30 July 1862
(1862-07-30)
(aged 67)
Dublin
, Ireland
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Occupation
| Scholar
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Eugene O'Curry
(
Irish
:
Eoghan O Comhrai
or
Eoghan O Comhraidhe
, 20 November 1794 – 30 July 1862) was an Irish
philologist
and
antiquary
.
Life
[
edit
]
He was born at Doonaha, near
Carrigaholt
,
County Clare
, the son of Eoghan O Comhrai, a farmer, and his wife Cait. Eoghan had spent some time as a travelling pedlar and had developed an interest in
Irish folklore
and
traditional music
. Unusually for someone of his background, he appears to have been literate and he is known to have possessed a number of Irish manuscripts. It is likely that Eoghan was primarily responsible for his son's education.
[1]
Having spent some years working on his father's farm and as a school teacher, Eugene O'Curry moved to Limerick around 1824 and spent seven years working there at a mental hospital. He married Anne Broughton, daughter of John Broughton of Killaderry near Broadford,
County Limerick
on 3 October 1824.
[1]
O'Curry was a supporter of
Catholic Emancipation
and in 1828 wrote a poem congratulating
Daniel O'Connell
on his election as an MP.
During this period O'Curry was establishing a reputation for his knowledge of the
Irish language
and
Irish history
, and, by 1834, was in correspondence with the antiquary
John O'Donovan
. He was employed, from 1835 to 1842, on O'Donovan's recommendation, in the topographical and historical section of the
Irish Ordnance Survey
. O'Donovan went on to marry O'Curry's sister-in-law, Mary Anne Broughton, in 1840. O'Curry spent much of the remainder of his life in Dublin and earned his living by translating and copying Irish
manuscripts
; the catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the
British Museum
(1849) was compiled by him
for a fee of £100. O'Curry was responsible for the transcripts of Irish manuscripts from which O'Donovan edited
The
Annals of the Four Masters
between 1848 and 1851.
[1]
In 1851, he was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy and, on the founding of the
Catholic University of Ireland
in 1854, he was appointed professor of
Irish history
and
archaeology
.
[1]
He worked with
George Petrie
on the
Ancient Music of Ireland
(1855). In 1852, he and O'Donovan proposed the
Dictionary of the Irish Language
, which was eventually begun by the
Royal Irish Academy
in 1913 and finally completed in 1976.
[
citation needed
]
His lectures were published by the university in 1860, and give a better knowledge of Irish medieval literature than can be obtained from any other source. Three other volumes of lectures were published posthumously, under the title
On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish
(1873). His voluminous transcripts, notably eight huge volumes of ancient
Irish law
, testify to his unremitting industry. The Celtic Society, of the council of which he was a member, published two of his translations of medieval tales.
He died of a heart attack, at his home in Dublin, on 30 July 1862, and was survived by two sons and two daughters.
[1]
He is buried at
Glasnevin cemetery
, Dublin. O'Curry Road in the Tenters area of
Dublin 8
is named in his honour. O'Curry GAA club on the
Loop Head
peninsula and O'Curry Street in
Kilkee
are also named after him.
[
citation needed
]
Works
[
edit
]
- Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History
, Dublin, J. Duffy, 1861
- On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish
, 1873
- O'Curry, Eugene (1873),
On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish
, vol. 1,
ISBN
9780876960103
- O'Curry, Eugene (1883),
On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish
, vol. 2,
ISBN
9780876960103
- O'Curry, Eugene (1873),
On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish
, vol. 3,
ISBN
9780876960103
- As translator
- Ancient Laws of Ireland
, translated by
O'Donovan, John
; O'Curry, Eugene, Alexander Thom (Dublin); Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green (London)
- Senchus Mor : Introduction to Senchus Mor, and Athgabhail; or, Law of Distress as contained in the Harleian manuscripts
, vol. 1, 1865
- Ireland (1869),
Senchus Mor Part II : Law of Distress (completed); Laws of Hostage-Sureties, Fosterage, Saer-Stock Tenure. Daer-Stock Tenure, and of Social Connexions
, vol. 2
- Senchus Mor (conclusion), being the Corus Bescna or Customary Law and The Book of Aichill
, vol. 3, 1873
- Din techtugad and other selected Brehon law tracts
, vol. 4, 1879
- Uraicecht Becc and certain other selected Brehon law tracts
, vol. 5, 1901
- Glossary
, vol. 6, 1901
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Profile
, oxforddnb.com; accessed 22 November 2015.
External links
[
edit
]
- Douglas Hyde (1911). "
Eugene O'Curry
". In
Catholic Encyclopedia
.
11
. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- O Dalaigh, Brian (2004), "Eoghan O Comhrai and the Local Perspective",
North Munster Antiquarian Journal
,
44
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