Sáirséal agus Dill (; "Sarsfield and Dill") was a
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
of
Irish-language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...
books based in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
, Ireland.
History
The company was founded in 1945 by Seán Sáirséal Ó hÉigeartaigh (1917–1967) and his wife Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin, with the help of a legacy left to him by his aunt, Elizabeth Dill Smyth. Ó hÉigeartaigh was the son of historian and writer
P. S. O'Hegarty
Patrick Sarsfield O'Hegarty ( ga, Pádraig Sáirséal Ó hÉigeartaigh,[Pádraig Sáirséal Ó hÉige ...](_blank)
.
The first book published was ''Tonn Tuile'', by
Séamus Ó Néill, on 30 September 1947.
The company quickly became the country's pioneering and most important Irish-language publishing house, and published such illustrious works as
Máirtín Ó Cadhain
Máirtín Ó Cadhain (; 1906 – 18 October 1970) was one of the most prominent Irish language writers of the twentieth century. Perhaps best known for his 1949 novel ''Cré na Cille'', Ó Cadhain played a key role in reintroducing literary mod ...
’s ''Cré na Cille'' and the poetry of
Seán Ó Ríordáin
Seán Pádraig Ó Ríordáin (3 December 1916 – 21 February 1977), sometimes referred to as an Ríordánach, was an Irish language poet and later a newspaper columnist. He is credited with introducing European themes to Irish poetry, and is wi ...
and
Máire Mhac an tSaoi
Máire Mhac an tSaoi (4 April 1922 – 16 October 2021) was an Irish civil service official, writer of Modernist poetry in the Corca Dhuibhne dialect of Munster Irish, a writer, and highly important figure within Modern literature in Irish. ...
. Other authors included
Niall Ó Dónaill,
Micheál Mac Liammóir
Micheál Mac Liammóir (born Alfred Willmore; 25 October 1899 – 6 March 1978) was an actor, designer, dramatist, writer and impresario in 20th-century Ireland. Though born in London to an English family with no Irish connections, he emigrate ...
,
Donncha Ó Céileachair,
Liam Ó Flaithearta,
Seán Ó Lúing,
Leon Ó Broin and
Annraoi Ó Liatháin.
Anne Yeats
Anne Butler Yeats (26 February 1919 – 4 July 2001) was an Irish painter, costume and stage designer.
Early and family life
She was the daughter of the poet William Butler Yeats and Georgie Hyde-Lees, a niece of the painter Jack B. Yea ...
(1919–2001), daughter of poet W. B. Yeats, designed many of the covers for the company's books over a twenty-year period from 1957.
[Martyn Anglesea (2002), ''Yeats, Anne'' in Brian Lalor (Ed.), ''The Encyclopedia of Ireland''. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. ]
Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh died at his place of work in the company on 14 June 1967. His wife Bríd took over leadership of the business, and published another fifty books.
The company was renamed Sáirséal Ó Marcaigh when Caoimhín Ó Marcaigh assumed control in 1981. It was acquired by
Cló Iar-Chonnachta in 2009.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sairseal agus Dill
Publishing companies of the Republic of Ireland
Book publishing companies of Ireland