Henry O'Brien (1808–1835) was an Irish

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and author best known for his hypothesis concerning Irish round towers.

Life

Henry O'Brien was the son of an aristocratic family from the west of Ireland. At an early age he studied Latin and Greek and took an interest in ancient Greek literature. Later he obtained a degree in classics at Trinity College Dublin. In 1833 O'Brien published an essay in the ''Transactions 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 List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

'' entitled "On the Origin and Use of the Round Towers of Ireland" which won a second place reward of £20. Henry O'Brien thought however that he should have won first place and in a lengthy preface to his published essay in book form entitled ''The Round Towers of Ireland, or the Mysteries of Freemasonry, of Sabaism, and of Buddhism'' (1834) attacked archaeologist George Petrie who won the £50 first place reward. O'Brien later translated ''Phœnician Ireland'', by Joaquín Lorenzo Villanueva in English but soon after died, at only 27 years of age by "bad health, aggravated by his studious habits", he was later buried in

Hanwell, Oxfordshire Hanwell is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northwest of Banbury. Its area is and its highest point is about above sea level. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 263. Early history Remains of a substantial Ro ...

Irish Round Tower theory

Henry O'Brien first proposed that the Irish round towers were created by a pre-Christian phallic cult among the

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuath(a) Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu (Irish goddess), Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deity, ...

who he connected to the daughters of

Danaus In Greek mythology, Danaus (, ; grc, Δαναός ''Danaós'') was the king of Libya. His myth is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's ''Iliad'', "Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and " ...

. His theory when first published caused a lot of controversy at the time, as well as sparking criticism. Today, the mainstream consensus among archaeologists and historians is that the Irish round towers were created during the early Medieval period, not pre-Christian period which O'Brien proposed.

Works

''The Round Towers of Ireland, or the Mysteries of Freemasonry, of Sabaism, and of Budhism'' (1834)Later reprinted as: ''The round towers of Ireland, or, The history of the Tuath-De-Danaans'' (1898), ''The round towers of Atlantis'' (Adventures Unlimited Press, 2002) and ''Atlantis in Ireland'' (Kessinger Publishing, 2003). However despite the two latter titles, O'Brien's work contains no reference to Atlantis.
''Phoenician Ireland'' (translated by Henry O'Brien, 1837)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:O'Brien, Henry Towers in Ireland 1808 births 1835 deaths Irish writers Irish classical scholars Alumni of Trinity College Dublin