Edward O'Reilly (6 December 1765 – 26 August 1830) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

scholar in the first half of the 19th century.

Biography

O'Reilly was born on 6 December 1765. His grandfather was Eoghan O'Reilly of Corstown,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. Edward's father moved to

Harold's Cross Harold's Cross () is an affluent urban village and inner suburb on the south side of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district D6W. The River Poddle runs through it, though largely in an underground culvert, and it holds a major cemetery, Mount ...

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

, where he practised as an apothecary. The History of the City of Dublin, Vol. II, p. 934, by John Warburton (1818) states- ''"Edward O'Reilly was educated in Dublin, where he had never heard Irish spoken. He applied himself to the study of the language by accident. In the year 1794 a young man of the name of Wright, who was about to emigrate from his native country, had a number of books to dispose of, which chiefly consisted of Irish MSS. They had been collected by the industry of a man of the name of Morris O'Gorman, who was clerk to Mary's-lane Chapel, and the person from whom Dr. Young, Bishop of Clonfert, and General Valancey, had learned Irish. This man's library, which filled five large sacks, Mr. O'Reilly purchased from Wright, and on examination found himself possessed of a collection of the rarest MSS., for one of which he has since refused fifty guineas. Master of this valuable repository, he commenced the study of the language, and by persevering application has acquired a deep knowledge of the ancient language of the country."'' Edward O'Reilly undertook the compilation of the work for which he is best remembered, his ''Irish-English Dictionary'' published in 1817. He was appointed assistant secretary to the Iberno-Celtic Society on its foundation the following year with the purpose of preserving and promoting Irish literature. His work during the 1820s included a Dictionary of Irish Writers and catalogues of Irish manuscripts in Dublin libraries including

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. He was one of the earliest collectors of Irish music and his collection is called "The Farmer and O'Reilly Collection". In May 1830, he was contracted to advise on Irish nomenclature for the early

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maps but spent only four months on this work before his death. Never a formal employee of the Survey, he was probably paid for his professional services. John O'Donovan replaced him in October 1830.

Death

Edward O'Reilly died on Friday 26 August 1830 at Harold's Cross, Dublin. The executor of his estate was his cousin Fr. Eugene O'Reilly, parish priest of

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland by population, tenth largest settlement in ...

, County Meath. His library of Irish manuscripts was sold in the same year by his executor and many volumes were purchased by 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 List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

Family

Edward's older brother Andrew O'Reilly (1756 – 4 August 1862) was a

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

, the Paris correspondent for ''The Times'' and the author of the book ''"Reminiscences of an emigrant Milesian"''. Edward's son was Patrick O'Reilly who was educated at Navan school.

Biography

Death

Family

References

Further reading