Brian Ó Cuív (1916 – 14 November 1999) was a Celtic scholar who specialised in Irish history and

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

Life

Ó Cuív was professor of Celtic Studies 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 member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

and later 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 ...

. His later years were devoted to the compilation of a catalogue of the Irish manuscripts in the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. The completed catalogue was published after his death. He married Emer de Valera—who would become the last surviving daughter of

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

—with whom he had nine children. She died in 2012. A son,

Éamon Ó Cuív Éamon Ó Cuív (; born 23 June 1950) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency since the 1992 general election. He previously served as Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2011 to 2 ...

, is a prominent Irish politician.

Surname

Ó Cuív's surname was changed from ''Ó Caoimh'' (

O'Keeffe O'Keeffe ( ga, Ó Caoimh), also O'Keefe, Keef, Keefe, Keeffe, Keifer or Keever is the name of an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Cork, particularly around Fermoy and Duhallow. The name comes from ''caomh'', m ...

) by his father, Shán Ó Cuív, a Cork journalist, who in the early 20th century changed the spelling of his surname to conform with a simplified spelling system of his own invention, which he called ''An Leitriú Shimplí''. The letter ' v' is extremely rare in Irish outside modern

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...

Works

His works include: *''The Irish of West Muskerry, Co. Cork: A Phonetic Study'' (1951) *''Irish Dialects and Irish Speaking Districts: Three Lectures'' (1951) *''Parliament Na mBan'', editor (1952) *''Seven Centuries of Irish Learning: 1000–1700'' (1961) *''A View of the Irish Language'' (1969) *''The Linguistic Training of the Mediaeval Irish Poet'' (1973) *''The Impact of the Scandinavian Invasions on the Celtic-speaking Peoples c. 800–1100 A.D.'' (1983) *''Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford and Oxford College Libraries'' (2001-03) 2 vols. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, School of Celtic Studies

Footnotes

External links

A title-index of Ó Cuív's publications, 1942 – 1971

Ó Cuív (Brian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:OCuiv, Brian 1916 births 1999 deaths Academics of University College Dublin Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Celtic studies scholars Linguists from Ireland 20th-century Irish historians De Valera family Irish-language writers 20th-century linguists