Maighréad "Daisy" Nic Mhaicín (12 March 1899 – 1 January 1983) was an Irish translator.

Early life and education

Maighréad Nic Mhaicín was born in Dunglow, County Donegal on 12 March 1899. Her parents were John Macken, a member of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

, and Margaret McNamee. She was the third of 9 children, with four brothers and four sisters. She was known as Daisy. The family moved to

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated in ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, where Nic Mhaicín attended primary school. The family later moved to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, where she attended a school with the

Dominican nuns The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

on the

Falls Road, Belfast The Falls Road () is the main road through West Belfast, Northern Ireland, running from Divis Street in Belfast City Centre to Andersonstown in the suburbs. The name has been synonymous for at least a century and a half with the Catholic comm ...

. Nic Mhaicín won a scholarship to attend

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, where she studied for a BA in

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 ...

and

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

, and went on to win a travelling scholarship to the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris. In Paris she studied for an MA with a speciality in phonetics and developed an interest in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. She returned to Ireland in the early 1920s, living on

Grafton Street Grafton Street () is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre (the other being Henry Street). It runs from St Stephen's Green in the south (at the highest point of the street) to College Green in the north (the lowest p ...

, Dublin.

Career

Nic Mhaicín started working as a teacher, beginning in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

and then with the Sacred Heart sisters on

Leeson Street __NOTOC__ Leeson Street (; ) is a thoroughfare near central Dublin, Ireland. Location The street is divided into two parts by the Grand Canal: Lower Leeson Street, in Dublin 2 is to the north of the canal, linking to St Stephen's Green, with ...

, Dublin. She did not enjoy teaching, opting to give private lessons instead while beginning to work as a translator. She became a member of a republican club, meeting regularly with other women with similar politics to hers including Catalina Bulfin, Róisín Ní Dhochartaigh, and Caitlín Nic Lochlainn at an apartment in 21

Dawson Street Dawson Street (; ) is a street on the southern side of central Dublin, running from St Stephen's Green to the walls of Trinity College Dublin. It is the site of the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Mansion House. Location Dawson Stre ...

. Her older brother, Bernard, was interned in Frongoch for a time. In 1932, she travelled to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

for the first time to work as a translator. On her second visit in 1935, she married

Padraic Breslin Padraic Breslin (14 June 1907 – June 1942) was an Irish communist and translator. Early life Padraic Breslin was born in London on 14 June 1907. His parents were both Irish, with his father from Glenties, County Donegal. The family returned t ...

who was a USSR citizen born in London to Irish parents and who was also working in the translating bureau. She was his second wife. When expecting her first child in 1938, Nic Mhaicín wanted the baby to be born in Ireland, so she travelled to Belfast. Her daughter, Anna Maighréad, was born there on 8 June. The Soviet government would not permit her to return to the USSR, or give Breslin a visa to leave, which meant that she never saw her husband again. He died during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the Volgolag

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

camp, near

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

June 1942. Returning to Dublin, Nic Mhaicín worked giving private Russian lessons and correcting examination papers. She began working part-time as

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

's first Russian teacher. Despite her knowledge of both the language and literature, she never rose to head of department as she had no formal qualification in Russian. She translated a number of books from Russian, English and French into Irish for

An Gúm An Gúm (, "The Scheme") was an Irish state company tasked with the publication of Irish literature, especially educational materials. The agency is now part of Foras na Gaeilge.

. These included

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's ''An Silín-Ghort'' (1935) and ''Gearrscéalta Tchekov cuid a hAon'' (1939). She collaborated with Gearóid Ó Nualláin on ''Scéalta ón Rúisis'' (1955). She also translated from English Arthur Mason's ''Ridirí beaga na hoíche'' (1940),

Patricia Lynch Patricia Lynch (4 June 1894– 1 September 1972) was an Irish children's writer and a journalist. She was the author of some 48 novels and 200 short stories. She is best known for blending Irish rural life and fantasy fiction as in ''The Turf-Cu ...

's ''Asal fhear na móna'' (1944), ''Eibhlín agus Séamus'', and ''Rí na dtinncleoir'' (1945), and

Norman McKinnel Norman McKinnel (10 February 1870 – 29 March 1932) was a Scottish stage and film actor and playwright, active from the 1890s until his death. He appeared in many stage roles in the UK and overseas as well as featuring in a number of films, ...

's ''Coinnleoirí an easbuig'' (1944). From French into Irish, she translated a collection of short stories ''Fíon Francach'' (1956), Rene Bazin's ''An Chaoin-Fhrainc'',

Émile Erckmann Émile Erckmann (20 May 1822 – 14 March 1899) was a French writer, strongly associated with the region of Alsace-Lorraine. Almost all of his works were written jointly with Alexandre Chatrian under the name Erckmann-Chatrian. Life Youth He w ...

and

Alexandre Chatrian Alexandre Chatrian (18 December 1826 – 3 September 1890) was a French writer, associated with the region of Alsace-Lorraine. Almost all of his works were written jointly with Émile Erckmann under the name Erckmann-Chatrian. Life Youth He was ...

's ''An tIúdach Pólach'' (1936). She also edited the collected ''Ós na ceithre hairdibh: cnuasach gearrscéal'' (1938). She served on the council of the Ireland-USSR Society and Cumann na Scríbhneoirí. She was a close friend of

Séamus Ó Grianna Séamus Ó Grianna (; 17 November 1889 – 27 November 1969; locally known also as Jimí Fheilimí) was an Irish writer, who used the pen name Máire. Biography Born to Feidhlimidh Mac Grianna and Máire Eibhlín Néillín Ní Dhomhnaill i ...

who considered her one of the best students of Irish he had met in his life. They campaigned together against the standardisation of the Irish language, believing that it neglected the Donegal dialect of

Ulster Irish Ulster Irish ( ga, Gaeilig Uladh, IPA=, IPA ga=ˈɡeːlʲɪc ˌʊlˠuː) is the variety of Irish spoken in the province of Ulster. It "occupies a central position in the Gaelic world made up of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man". Ulster Iri ...

. She retired from TCD in 1969. She died on 1 January 1983 in her apartment on Grafton Street. In her obituary,

Proinsias Mac Aonghusa Proinsias Mac Aonghusa ( en, link=yes, Francis McGuinness; 23 June 1933 – 28 September 2003) was an Irish journalist, writer, TV presenter and campaigner. Born into an Irish-speaking household, Mac Aonghusa became one of the most noted Ir ...

described the apartment she rented for 50 years as "an unofficial center of Slavonic and Irish studies and cultures". In 1985, 200 Irish language books were donated to the

University of Moscow M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

by Cumann na bhFoilsitheoirí in her memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicmhaicin, Maighread 1899 births 1983 deaths People from Dungloe Irish language activists Russian–Irish translators French–Irish translators 20th-century translators Writers from County Donegal