Seán Ó hEochaidh (9 February 1913 – 18 January 2002) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

Biography

A native of

Teelin ''Teileann'' (an Irish word meaning 'Dish'; anglicised as Teelin Patrick McKay, ''A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names'', p. 140. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, 1999.) is a ''Gaeltacht'' village in the ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, Ó hEochaidh worked as a

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

in his youth. Despite a basic education, from an early age he made a written record of the oral

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

of his area. In 1935,

Séamus Ó Duilearga Séamus Ó Duilearga (born James Hamilton Delargy; 26 May 1899 – 25 June 1980) was an Irish folklorist, professor of folklore at University College Dublin and Director of the Irish Folklore Commission. Born in Cushendall, Co Antrim, he was one ...

of the

Irish Folklore Commission The Irish Folklore Commission (''Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann'' in Irish) was set up in 1935 by the Irish Government to study and collect information on the folklore and traditions of Ireland. History Séamus Ó Duilearga (James Hamilton Dela ...

appointed Ó hEochaidh to be full-time folklore collector for the

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 ...

area of Donegal. Besides keeping written records, Ó hEochaidh recorded stories and songs on wax cylinders. In some cases, all his powers of persuasion were needed, as some viewed his 56 lb Ediphone as the work of the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

. Up to a dozen cylinders could be recorded in the course of a single day, all of which he painstakingly transcribed in meticulous handwriting by night. He once estimated that he spoke to at least one thousand five hundred people. His detailed

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concurred, noting that ''"His is the largest collection of Irish folklore ever compiled by one individual."'' During the 1960s, at the invitation of his friend, Professor Heinrich Wagner, he and others briefly guest lectured at

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 = ...

, in the Department of Celtic Studies. With the dissolution of the Irish Folklore Commission in 1971, he joined the Department of Irish Folklore at

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 ...

. In 1988, he received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

in Celtic

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

from

University College, Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

. The following year, he was made President of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

, the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

cultural festival held yearly in different locations. In 1989, it was held in Ó hEochaidh's native

Glencolmcille ''Gleann Cholm Cille'', anglicised as Glencolumbkille or Glencolmcille, is a small district on the Atlantic coast of southwest County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Named after Saint Colm Cille (Columba), it is also a civ ...

, Donegal. In 1995, he was named Donegal Person of the Year.

Publications

Ó hEochaidh's published work included an edition of the

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

of his

father-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-law ...

Micí Mac Gabhann Micí Mac Gabhann (22 November 1865 – 29 November 1948) was a seanchaí and memoirist from the County Donegal Gaeltacht. He is best known for his posthumously published emigration memoir ''Rotha Mór an tSaoil'' (1959). It was dictated to his ...

(1865–1948), published in 1959 as '' Rotha Mór an tSaoil''. It won an Irish book award. It was in 1973 translated by

Valentin Iremonger Valentin Iremonger (14 February 1918 – 22 May 1991) was an Irish diplomat and poet. He was born on Valentine's Day in Sandymount, Dublin and joined the diplomatic service. He served as Irish Ambassador to Sweden, Norway, Finland, India, Luxem ...

as '' The Hard Road to Klondike'' (1973). With Máire Mac Néill and Séamas Ó Catháin, he produced ''Síscéalta ó Thír Chonaill'' ("Fairy Legends From Donegal") in 1978.

Personal life

His wife, Anna Ní Gabhann, died in 1996. He was survived by his brother Tomás and sister Cáit.

External links

* http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2002/feb/04/guardianobituaries.books1 * http://research.culturalequity.org/get-audio-detailed-recording.do?recordingId=7432 * http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=2162&tpl=archnews&force=1 * https://web.archive.org/web/20110927021017/http://www.dun-na-ngall.com/nw29.html * http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/folklore-of-ireland/Folklore-of-ireland/tellers-and-their-tales-i/anna-nic-an-luain-%281884-1/ {{DEFAULTSORT:OHeochaidh, Sean 1913 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Irish writers Irish folklorists Irish writers People from County Donegal Irish-language writers