Father Peadar Ua Laoghaire or Peadar Ó Laoghaire (, first name locally ; 30 April 1839 – 21 March 1920), also anglicized as Peter O'Leary, was an Irish writer and

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, who is regarded today as one of the founders of

modern literature in Irish Although Irish has been used as a literary language for more than 1,500 years (see Irish literature), and modern literature in Irish dates – as in most European languages – to the 16th century, modern Irish literature owes much of its populari ...

Life

He was born in Liscarrigane () in the parish of

Clondrohid Clondrohid () is a village and civil parish in County Cork, Ireland, four miles (6 km) north of Macroom. As of the 2016 census, the population of the village was recorded as 179, down from 188 people as of the 2011 census. Geography Parish ...

(),

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, and grew up speaking

Munster Irish Munster Irish () is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Gaeltacht regions in Munster are found in the Gaeltachtaí of the Dingle Peninsula in west County Kerry, in the Iveragh Peninsula in south Kerry, in Cap ...

in the

Muskerry Muskerry ( ga, Múscraí) is a central region of County Cork, Ireland which incorporates the baronies of Muskerry West Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

. He was a descendant of the Carrignacurra branch of the Ó Laoghaire of the ancient

Corcu Loígde The Corcu Loígde (Corcu Lóegde, Corco Luigde, Corca Laoighdhe, Laidhe), meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centred in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of Mun ...

. He attended Maynooth College and was ordained a priest of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1867. He became a parish priest in

Castlelyons Castlelyons () is a small village in the east of County Cork, Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Barrymore.

in 1891, and it was there that he wrote his most famous story, , and told it as a fireside story to three little girls. was the first major literary work of the emerging Gaelic revival. It was serialised in the

Gaelic Journal The ''Gaelic Journal'' ( ga, Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge) was a periodical publication "exclusively devoted to the preservation and cultivation of the Irish Language". According to Tomas O Flannghaile it was "the first journal devoted to the living ...

from 1894, and published in book form in 1904. The plot of the story concerns a deal that the shoemaker Séadna struck with "the Dark Man". Although the story is rooted in the folklore the writer heard from shanachies by the fire during his youth, it is also closely related to the German legend of

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

. It was first published as a serial in various Irish-language magazines. Apart from ''Séadna'', Ua Laoghaoire wrote an autobiography called ("''My Own Story''"), published by

Norma Borthwick Mariella Norma Borthwick (25 July 1862 – 13 June 1934) was a British artist and writer and an Irish language activist. Early life Mariella Norma Borthwick was born in Highfield, Higher Bebington, Chester, on 25 July 1862. She was one of fi ...

's ''Irish Book Company''. In addition, he translated some stories of medieval Gaelic literature into modern Irish, such as ''Eisirt'' and ''An Cleasaí'', and translated an abridged version of ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'' into his local dialect of Irish. Peadar Ua Laoghaire became known for his support for , the real Irish of the people rather than any attempt to revive older forms of Irish. But he also drew careful distinctions between what he saw as good Irish and bad Irish, saying in chapter 5 of ,

Before I left Liscarrigane, I had never heard from anybody's mouth phrases such as "tá mé", "bhí mé", "bhí siad"; I always used to hear "táim", "bhíos", "bhíodar", etc. Little things! – but little things that come repeatedly into conversation. A taut mode of expression, as against one that is lax, makes for finish in speech; in the same manner, a lax mode of expression as against the taut, makes for speech that is deficient. Besides, the taut speech possesses a force and a vigour that cannot be contained in speech that is falling apart...The loose mode of expression is prominent in Gaelic today and English is nothing else. English has fallen apart completely.

Accordingly, he strongly promoted Cork Irish as what he saw as the best Irish for propagation among the Irish people. He died in

Castlelyons Castlelyons () is a small village in the east of County Cork, Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Barrymore.

at the age of 80.

Works

The following is a partial list of his works: * ''Ar nDóithin Araon'', 1894 * ''Mion-chaint'', an easy Irish phrase book, compiled for the Gaelic League, 1899 * ''Eólas ar áireamh'', arithmetical tables in Irish, 1902 * ''An Soísgéal as Leabar an aifrinn'', 1902 (the liturgical readers from the Missal) * Irish prose composition: a series of articles, including several upon the Irish autonomous verb, 1902 * ''Aesop a Tháinig go hÉirinn'', 1903 * ''Sgothbhualadh'', a series of articles in Irish reprinted from the "Leader", 1904 * ''Séadna'', 1904 (originally serialised in 1898) * ''An Craos-Deamhan'', 1905 * ''An Bealach Buidhe'', a drama, 1906 * '' Tóruigheacht Dhiarmuda agus Ghráinne'', 1906 * ''Niamh'' 1907 * ''Eisirt'', 1909 * ''Seanmóin agus trí fichid'', sermons for every Sunday and holy day of the year, 1909–10 * ''An sprid: Bas Dalláin: Tadhg Saor'', three short plays, 1911 * ''An Cleasaidhe'', 1913 * ''Caitilina'', 1913 * ''Aithris ar Chríost'', 1914 (a translation into Irish of

Thomas à Kempis Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471; german: Thomas von Kempen; nl, Thomas van Kempen) was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of ''The Imitation of Christ'', published anonymously in Latin in the N ...

' 'Imitatio Christi') * ''Sliabh na mban bhFionn agus Cúan Fithise'', 1914 * '' Lughaidh Mac Con'', 1914 * ''Bricriu'', 1915 * ''Na Cheithre Soisgéil as an dTiomna Nua'', 1915 (a translation into Irish of the

Four Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

) * ''Mo Sgéal Féin'', 1915 * ''Guaire'', 1915 * ''Ag Séideadh agus ag ithe'', 1918 * ''An teagasg críosdaidhe'', edited by Ua Laoghaire, 1920 * ''Don Cíchóté'', a partial translation of

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

' early 17th century novel ''

'', 1921 * ''Gníomhartha na nAspol'', 1921 (a translation into Irish of the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

) * ''Lúcián'', 1924 * ''Sgéalaidheachta as an mBíobla naomhtha'', 1924 (stories from the Bible) * ''Críost Mac Dé'', 1925 * ''Sgealaidheacht na Macabéach'', 1926 (the stories of the

Maccabees The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees ( he, מַכַּבִּים, or , ; la, Machabaei or ; grc, Μακκαβαῖοι, ), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. ...

from the

Apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

) * ''Aodh Ruadh'', an adaptation of the life of

Hugh Roe O'Donnell Hugh Roe O'Donnell (Irish: ''Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill''), also known as Red Hugh O'Donnell (30 October 1572 – 10 September 1602), was a sixteenth-century leader of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. He became Chief of the Name of Clan O'Donne ...

(Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill) originally by

Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh ( fl. 1603 – 1616), sometimes anglicised as Lewey O'Clery, was an Irish Gaelic poet and historian. He is best known today as the author of ''Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill'', a biography of Red Hugh O'Donnell. Life Bor ...

in the 17th century, 1929 * Notes on Irish words and usages * Papers on Irish idiom : together with a translation into Irish of part of the first book of Euclid, by the late canon Peter O'Leary; edited by Thomas F. O'Rahilly. * ''Cómhairle ár leasa'', articles published in the "Leader" * ''Mo shlighe chun Dé : leabhar urnaighthe'' An article listing 487 of Ua Laoghaire's articles and works was published in ''Celtica'' in 1954.Still available from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
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References

:''This page includes material translated from the corresponding article at the Irish Wikipedia as of 2007-10-07. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ua Laoghaire, Peadar 1839 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Irish writers Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Irish memoirists Irish translators Irish-language writers People educated at St Colman's College, Fermoy People from County Cork Translators of the Bible into Irish Translators to Irish

Life

Works

See also

References