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 ...

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 th ...

books based 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 ...

, 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. The first book published was ''Tonn Tuile'', by

Séamus Ó Néill Séamus Ó Néill, (died 1981), was an Irish writer from Clarkhill, Castlewellan, County Down, Ireland. Following a primary degree from Queen's University, Belfast, he did historical research under Eoin MacNeill at University College, Dublin ...

, 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. Alo ...

. Other authors included

Niall Ó Dónaill Niall Ó Dónaill (27 August 1908 – 10 February 1995) was an Irish language lexicographer from Ailt an Eidhinn, Loughanure, County Donegal. He was the oldest of the six children of Tarlach Ó Dónaill and Éilis Nic Ruairí from Grial, Loug ...

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 emigrated ...

, 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. Yeat ...

(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