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

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

. According to

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

, 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 launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' described him as "eminent". His

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use 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, ...

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 Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

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) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

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 Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art histor ...

. He taught at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

and was a Professor of Irish at the

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

'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) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

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 ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. He also achieved the Parnell Fellowship at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

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 The Irish language originated in Ireland and has historically been the dominant language of the Irish people. They took it with them to a number of other countries, and in Scotland and the Isle of Man it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx, res ...

. He was married to Aingeal. She outlived him. The couple had three children, daughters, Bridóg and Clíona, and son, Traolach. Following his death in 2010, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport,

Mary Hanafin Mary Hanafin (born 1 June 1959) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport from 2010 to 2011, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from January 2011 to March 2011, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Inn ...

, paid tribute, calling Ó Buachalla "a giant among his peers" and lamenting that "his passing is more than a personal loss to his family, it is a great loss also to the Irish language and learning". 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 cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

at his home in Dublin. He was 74.

References

External links

Profile

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

Aisling The aisling (, , approximately ), or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language Irish poetry, poetry. The word may have a number of variations in pronunciation, but the ''is'' of t ...

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 People from County Cork University of Notre Dame faculty Irish-language writers Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies