Breandán Ó Buachalla (1936 – 20 May 2010) was an Irish scholar of the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

. According to Raidió Teilifís Éireann, he was "the leading authority on Gaelic poetry and writing in early modern Ireland" and "one of the most prominent Irish language academics of his generation". ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' described him as "eminent". His

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

was his seventeenth century literary and political study, ''Aisling Ghéar''. Ó Buachalla was born in

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

in 1936 and went to school at Saint Nessan's Christian Brothers School. He attended

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

from which he obtained a degree in

Celtic studies Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celts, Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art h ...

. He taught at

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

and was a Professor of Irish at the

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...

's School of Celtic Studies for five years between 1973 and 1978. Following this Ó Buachalla was Professor of Modern Irish Language and Literature at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

for eighteen years between 1978 and 1996. He was a visiting professor at three institutes in the United States: these were the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. He also achieved the Parnell Fellowship at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in the United Kingdom. At the time of his death, he was Professor of Irish at the

, the only faculty of Modern Irish language outside Ireland. He was married to Aingeal, who outlived him. The couple had three children, daughters, Bridóg and Clíona, and son, Traolach. Among his other works are ''I mBéal Feirste Cois Cuain'', ''Peadar Ó Doirnín: amhráin, Nua-Dhuanaire II'', ''Cathal Buí: amhráin'', and ''Na Stíobhartaigh agus an tAos Léinn: King Seamas''. Breandán Ó Buachalla died on 20 May 2010 after suffering a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

at his home in Dublin. He was 74. Following his death, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, paid tribute.

References

External links

Profile

''The Irish Times'', 5 June 2010. * explaining the

Aisling The , , approximately ), or vision poem, is a mythopoeic poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry. The word may have a number of variations in pronunciation, but the ''is'' of the first s ...

poetic genre. {{DEFAULTSORT:Obuachalla, Breandan 1936 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Irish writers 21st-century Irish writers Academics of Queen's University Belfast Academics of University College Dublin Alumni of University College Cork Boston College faculty Linguists from the Republic of Ireland New York University faculty Scholars and academics from County Cork University of Notre Dame faculty Irish-language writers Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies