Myles Patrick Dillon (11 April 1900 – 18 June 1972) was an Irish scholar whose primary interests were

comparative philology Comparative linguistics, or comparative-historical linguistics (formerly comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness. Genetic relatedness ...

Celtic studies Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art histor ...

, and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Life

Myles Dillon was born in

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 ...

; he was one of six children of

John Dillon John Dillon (4 September 1851 – 4 August 1927) was an Irish politician from Dublin, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for over 35 years and was the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. By political disposition Dillon was an a ...

and his wife Elizabeth Mathew; James Dillon, the leader of

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

, was his younger brother. Myles Dillon graduated 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 collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, than travelled to Germany and France, where he studied in deep Old Irish and Celtic philology under

Joseph Vendryes Joseph Vendryes or Vendryès (; 13 January 1875, Paris – 30 January 1960) was a French Celtic linguist. After studying with Antoine Meillet, he was chairman of Celtic languages and literature at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. He found ...

and

Rudolf Thurneysen Eduard Rudolf Thurneysen (March 14, 1857 – 9 August 1940) was a Swiss linguist and Celticist. Biography Born in Basel, Thurneysen studied classical philology in Basel, Leipzig, Berlin and Paris. His teachers included Ernst Windisch and H ...

. Dillon taught Sanskrit and comparative philology in

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 ...

(1928–1930) and

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 collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(1930–1937). In 1937 moved to USA, where he taught Irish in the University of Madison (his son John M. Dillon was born in Madison), in 1946–1947 taught in Chicago. On his return to Ireland worked in the School of Celtic Studies in

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 ...

; was the director of the School from 1960 till 1968, edited Celtica. Volume 11 of Celtica is dedicated to his memory. From 1966 to 1967 he was President 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 ...

. Myles Dillon is the author of a number of important scholarly books, handbooks and translations from Old Irish. Among his most notable works are ''The Cycles of the Kings'' (1946), ''Early Irish literature'' (1948), ''The Celtic realms'' (1967, with

Nora Kershaw Chadwick Nora Kershaw Chadwick CBE FSA FBA (28 January 1891 – 24 April 1972) was an English philologist who specialized in Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Old Norse studies. Early life and education Nora Kershaw was born in Lancashire in 1891, the first dau ...

). M. Dillon published a modern translation and commentary of ''The Book of Rights'' ( sga, Lebor na cert, 1962). He also translated ''Dieux et héros des Celtes'' by

Marie-Louise Sjoestedt Marie-Louise Sjoestedt-Jonval (20 September 1900 – 26 December 1940) was a French linguist and literary scholar who specialized in Celtic studies, especially Irish mythology. Together with Joseph Loth, she was co-editor of ''Revue Celtique'' and d ...

into English, thus making the book available for a wider scholarly audience. The monograph ''Celts and Aryans'', published posthumously by the

Indian Institute of Advanced Study The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) is a research institute located in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and started functioning from 20 October 1965. History and establishment The ...

reflects Dillon's interest in the traces of the shared heritage in the Indian and Irish cultures deriving from

Proto-Indo-European society Proto-Indo-European society is the reconstructed culture of Proto-Indo-Europeans, the ancient speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, ancestor of all modern Indo-European languages. Scientific approaches Many of the modern ideas in this ...

based on a period of research Dillon spent in

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...

, India.

Publications

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References

External links

Recording
of Dillon reading eleven early Irish lyrics, {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Myles 1900 births 1972 deaths 20th-century linguists Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of Trinity College Dublin Academics of University College Dublin Alumni of University College Dublin Celtic studies scholars Irish philologists Linguists from Ireland Linguists of Indo-European languages Linguists of Irish Members of the Royal Irish Academy People educated at Belvedere College People from Dublin (city) Sanskrit scholars University of Bonn alumni University of Chicago faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty