Gearóid Mac Niocaill (1932–2004) was one of the foremost twentieth-century scholars and interpreters of late medieval Irish tracts.

Life

Gearóid was born in Hull,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1932 to an Irish mother. His lifelong work in the Irish language built upon an earlier tradition of involvement in the Irish revival by English-born scholars like Robin Flower (Bláithín) and George Thomson (Seoirse Mac Tomáis). Mac Niocaill graduated with a BA in Latin and French from the University of Leeds in 1953.In Memoriam, Gearóid Mac Niocaill 1932-2004
. He presently travelled to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

where he was awarded a post-graduate scholarship by the School of Celtic Studies in 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 ...

. In 1956 he was given responsibility for manuscripts in the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...

. He submitted a dissertation entitled ''Cáipéisí i Dli i nGaeilge 1493–1621'' in 1962 for which he was duly awarded his doctorate. Three years later, in 1965, Mac Niocaill was made an assistant professor in the School of Celtic Studies at the

. Mac Niocaill was professor of history at NUI Galway from 1977 until his retirement in 1997. His publication of key late medieval manuscripts in Latin and, especially, Irish restricted his academic audience but affirmed his commitment to the Irish language. Nonetheless, his ''Na Buirgéisi, xii-xv aois'' (1964), written in Irish and Latin, is one of the most widely cited and indispensable texts on the burgesses and boroughs in late medieval Ireland. The growing school of literature examining the geographical and archaeological nature of

Hiberno-Norman From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans from ...

towns have utilised this two-volume text in order to understand the constitutional structure of these towns.

References

External links

Published works
compiled by Donnchadh Ó Corráin, CELT. 1932 births 2004 deaths Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Alumni of the University of Leeds People from Kingston upon Hull Academics of the University of Galway British medievalists Celtic studies scholars 20th-century Irish historians Irish medievalists {{ireland-academic-bio-stub