Cecile O'Rahilly ( ga, Sisile Ní Rathaille; 17 December 1894 in

Listowel Listowel ( ; , IPA: �lʲɪsˠˈt̪ˠuəhəlʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the CSO Census 2016. Desc ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

– 2 May 1980 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

) was a scholar of the

Celtic languages The Celtic languages (usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...

. She is best known for her editions/translations of the various recensions of the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

epic saga ''

Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...

''.

Early years and education

O'Rahilly was born in

to Thomas Francis Rahilly of

Ballylongford Ballylongford (historically ''Bealalongford'', from ) is a village near Listowel in northern County Kerry, Ireland. Geography The village is situated near the estuary of the Ballyline River, on Ballylongford Bay, a tidal estuary of the River Sh ...

, County Kerry and Julia Mary Rahilly (''née'' Curry) of Glin, County Limerick. She was the eleventh of her parents' thirteen surviving children. Her older brother was the scholar T. F. O'Rahilly. She received her primary education at the local national school in Listowel, before attending the Presentation Convent, also in Listowel. By 1906 after being widowed seven years previously, her mother moved the family to Dublin, where they lived at 66 Botanic Road,

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home ...

. O'Rahilly continued her education at the Dominican College in Eccles Street. She received a BA with double first-class honours in Celtic Studies and French from

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 ...

in 1915, and, having won a Travelling Scholarship in Celtic Studies, she moved to Bangor in north Wales and studied under

Ifor Williams Sir Ifor Williams, (16 April 1881 – 4 November 1965) was a Welsh scholar who laid the foundations for the academic study of Old Welsh, particularly early Welsh poetry. Early life and education Ifor Williams was born at Pendinas, Tregarth near ...

and

John Morris-Jones Sir John Morris-Jones (17 October 1864 – 16 April 1929) was a Welsh grammarian, academic and Welsh-language poet. Morris-Jones was born John Jones, at Trefor in the parish of Llandrygarn, Anglesey the son of Morris Jones first a schoolmaster ...

. She received an MA from the

University College of North Wales , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

in 1919.

Academic career

She taught French at a number of schools in Wales between 1919 and 1946, publishing an edition of the Irish tale ''Tóruigheacht Gruaidhe Griansholus'' ("The Pursuit of Gruaidh Ghriansholus") in 1922, and ''Ireland and Wales, their historical and literary relations'' in 1924. She returned to Dublin to take up an assistant professorship in Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) under her brother Thomas Francis O'Rahilly in 1946, later becoming full professor sometime after 1956, the first woman to hold the post. During this time she published an edition of ''Eachtra Uilliam'', an Irish version of the werewolf legend of

Guillaume de Palerme ''Guillaume de Palerme'' ("William of Palerne") is a French romance poem, later translated into English where it is also known as ''William and the Werewolf''. The French verse romance was composed , commissioned by Countess Yolande (who is gene ...

, in 1949, ''Five Seventeenth Century Political Poems'' in 1952, ''Trompa na bhFlaitheas'', an 18th-century Irish translation by Tadhg Ó Conaill of ''La trompette du Ciel'' by Antoine Yvan, in 1955; ''The Stowe Version of Táin Bó Cúailnge'' in 1961; and ''Cath Finntrágha'' in 1962. She retired from DIAS in 1964, but continued to publish: ''Táin Bó Cuailnge from the Book of Leinster'' in 1967, and ''Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension 1'' in 1976. In 1957 she was awarded

D.Litt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

in Celtic Studies by the National University of Ireland (NUI) and later an honorary D.Litt in 1977, also from NUI. She was elected as a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one its leading cultural ...

in 1966.

Personal life

She was fluent in Irish, Welsh and French. She never married, but lived with her companion Myfanwy Williams at 17 Raglan Road in

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the city. Th ...

, after moving to Dublin in 1951.Ní Mhunghaile, Lesa.
O'Rahilly (Ní Rathaille, Ó Rathaille), Cecile (Sisile)
. ''Dictionary of Irish Biography''. (ed.) James McGuire, James Quinn. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2009. She had been sick for much of her life, and in her later years began to lose her sight. After a long illness, she died on 2 May 1980. She was buried in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Ghlas Naíon) is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasne ...

. She was sister to

Alfred O'Rahilly Alfred O'Rahilly, KSG (1 October 1884 – 1 August 1969) was an academic with controversial views on both electromagnetism and religion. He briefly served in politics, as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork City, and was later the president of Unive ...

, a noted academic, President of University College Cork and

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parl ...

(TD) for Cork City, and Thomas Francis O'Rahilly an Irish scholar of the Celtic languages. Their great-grand uncle was the noted Irish philologist and antiquary

Eugene O'Curry Eugene O'Curry ( ga, Eoghan Ó Comhraí or Eoghan Ó Comhraidhe, 20 November 179430 July 1862) was an Irish philologist and antiquary. Life He was born at Doonaha, near Carrigaholt, County Clare, the son of Eoghan Ó Comhraí, a farmer, and ...

. Their first cousin was Michael O'Rahilly (better known as The O'Rahilly) who was one of the founding members of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

and died in the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with t ...

.Breathnach, Diarmuid; Ní Mhurchú, Máire.
Ó RATHGHAILLE, Micheál Seosamh (1875–1916)
. ''Ainm''. Retrieved 27 December 2020.

Bibliography

*''Tóruigheacht Gruaidhe Griansholus'' (Irish Texts Society Vol. 24, 1922) *''Ireland and Wales, their Historical and Literary Relations'' (Longman, 1924) *''Eachtra Uilliam: an Irish version of William of Palerne'' (DIAS, 1949) *''Five Seventeenth Century Political Poems'' (DIAS, 1952) *''Trompa na bhFlaitheas'' n Irish version of ''La trompette du ciel''(DIAS, 1955) *''The Stowe Version of Táin Bó Cúailnge'' (DIAS, 1961) *''Cath Finntrágha, edited from ms Rawlinson B 487'' (DIAS, 1962) *''Táin Bó Cúailnge, from the Book of Leinster'' (DIAS, 1967) *''Táin Bó Cúailnge, Recension 1'' (DIAS, 1976)

References

1894 births 1980 deaths Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Irish schoolteachers Linguists from Ireland People from County Kerry Translators of the Táin Bó Cúailnge Irish translators Translators from Irish Translators from Old Irish 20th-century Irish translators 20th-century linguists

External links

*Translation of
Táin Bó Cuailnge from the Book of Leinster
' an

*Translation of

' an

{{Authority control Members of the Royal Irish Academy