Richard Irvine Best (17 January 1872 – 25 September 1959), often known as R. I. Best, was an Irish scholar who specialised in Celtic Studies. Best was born into a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

family in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

and educated at

Foyle College Foyle College is a co-educational non-denominational voluntary grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. The school's legal name is Foyle and Londonderry College. In 1976, two local schools, Foyle College and Londonderry High School, merged und ...

before working for a time in a bank. As a young man he went to Paris to study

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

, where he met Kuno Meyer and attended Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville's lectures at the Collège de France. On his return to Ireland he translated the latter's ''Le Cycle Mythologique Irlandais et la Mythologie Celtique'' into English and became Assistant Director at the National Library of Ireland in 1904. He married Edith Oldman, a musician, in 1906 and the couple were active in the administration of the

Feis Ceoil Feis Ceoil ( ; "Festival of Music") is an Irish music organisation which holds an annual competitive festival of classical music. It was first organised in Dublin in 1897 by Dr. Annie Patterson and Edward Martyn for the purpose of stimulating musi ...

. Edith was six years Best's senior and the sister of Professor C. H. Oldman of

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 ...

. The couple had no children. From 1913 onwards he published his multi-volume ''Bibliography of Irish Philology and Manuscript Literature: Publications'' (1913–1941). Best was director of the National Library from 1929 to 1940. He was Senior Professor of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies from its establishment in 1940. He was elected 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 ...

from 1943 to 1946. He served as chairman of the

Irish Manuscripts Commission The Irish Manuscripts Commission was established in 1928 by the newly founded Irish Free State with the intention of furthering the study of Ireland's manuscript collections and archives. Its foundation was primarily motivated by the loss of many h ...

from 1948 to 1956 and was an honorary fellow of the Bibliographical Society of Ireland. Best was awarded honorary doctorates by the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

and Trinity College Dublin and the Leibniz Medal of the Royal Prussian Academy. He died at his home, 57 Upper Leeson Street, on 25 September 1959. Best was an acquaintance of

J. M. Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...

and

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

. Joyce depicted Best in

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

as one of the characters in the National Library scene in Episode 9 ''Scylla and Charybdis''. Best was known to have disapproved of Joyce's characterisation of him. According to

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on a ...

, Best boasted that he was the only person in Dublin from whom Joyce never succeeded in borrowing money.

Flann O'Brien Brian O'Nolan ( ga, Brian Ó Nualláin; 5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966), better known by his pen name Flann O'Brien, was an Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth cen ...

affectionately satirised him alongside his fellow scholars

D. A. Binchy Daniel Anthony Binchy (1899–1989) was a scholar of Irish linguistics and Early Irish law. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College (1910–16), University College Dublin (UCD), and the King's Inns (1917–20), after which he was called to ...

and

Osborn Bergin Osborn Joseph Bergin (26 November 1873 – 6 October 1950) was a scholar of the Irish language and early Irish literature, who discovered Bergin's Law. He was born in Cork, sixth child and eldest son of Osborn Roberts Bergin and Sarah Reddin, a ...

in his poem ''Binchy and Bergin and Best''. He was a close friend of George Moore, and according to a well-known story, he had to explain to Moore that "it were better" is not bad English but the

subjunctive mood The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...

; Moore apparently had never heard of it, but vowed that he would never again use any mood but the subjunctive. The R. I. Best Memorial Lectures were established by the National Library in his honour.

Selected publications

*''The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology'' translated, (1903) *''Bibliography of Irish Philology and of Printed Irish Literature'' (1913) *''Bibliography of Irish Philology and Manuscript Literature, Publications'', 2 vols, (1913–1941) vols.*''The Martyrology of Tallaght'', editor, (1931) *''The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Nuachongbála'', co-edited, (1954–67)

External links

''Binchy and Bergin and Best'' by Flann O'Brien

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Richard Irvine 1872 births 1959 deaths Writers from Derry (city) Linguists from Ireland Celtic studies scholars People educated at Foyle College Members of the Royal Irish Academy Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies