Séamus Ó Duilearga (born James Hamilton Delargy; 26 May 1899 – 25 June 1980) was an Irish folklorist, professor of 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 ...

and Director 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 ...

. Born in Cushendall, Co Antrim, he was one of two sons of James Delargy and Mary Josephine McQuillan. Following the death of James Delargy the family moved to Glenariff, Co Antrim and later to Co Wicklow. Graduating with a degree in Celtic Studies from

, he founded the Folklore of Ireland Society in 1926 and was involved with the foundation of its magazine 'Béaloideas' the following year. He would remain its editor until his retirement. In 1930 the Society became the Irish Folklore Institute and received a government grant, and in 1935 the Irish Folklore Commission (Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann) was established in University College Dublin by the first Fianna Fáil government. Ó Duilearga was appointed director and Seán Ó Súilleabháin (1903-1996) a Kerryman, was the appointed archivist. The Commission operated under the aegis of the Department of Education, and aimed to collect, preserve and classify all aspects of Irish folk tradition in a systematic manner. One of its first projects was the Schools’ Collection Scheme 1937, which was a voluntary nationwide attempt to rescue 'from oblivion the traditions…of the historic Irish nation.’ Operated through the National Schools system, it resulted in a collection of about a half a million manuscript pages of folklore, now housed in the Department of Irish Folklore at University College Dublin. Ó Duilearga was appointed lecturer in Irish in UCD in 1923, and later that year he was visiting Seán Ó Conaill in Kildreelig, south-west Kerry, when he encountered the Swedish folklorist

Carl Wilhelm von Sydow Carl Wilhelm von Sydow (21 December 1878 – 4 March 1952) was a Swedish folklore scholar. A professor at Lund University, he was a pioneer of folklore studies in Sweden and contributed to establishing systematic methods in the field. Early life ...

. He subsequently negotiated a sabbatical from UCD to study folklore in Lund and Uppsala. He was made lecturer in folklore in UCD in 1934, and Professor of Folklore in 1946, while continuing to serve as Director of the Folklore Commission. He

edited Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

Oidhche Sheanchais (; "A Night of Storytelling"; variously given as ''The Storyteller, The Story Teller, Storyteller's Night, Night of Story-telling'') is a 1935 Irish film directed by Robert J. Flaherty. It was produced during the sound recording session for h ...

'' (1935), the first

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 ...

sync sound film. In the early 1960s, he collaborated with Anthony T. Lucas, the director of the

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thre ...

(NMI), to create and circulate a questionnaire on the uses of hay, rushes, and straw. It was sent to 150 people, and from the results, Lucas embarked on an extensive collecting programme in the NMI for objects made of these materials. He resigned his UCD chair in 1969, retired from the Commission in 1971, and died in Dublin in 1980. Ó Duilearga was married to Maud McGuigan; they had one son and one daughter.

Selected publications

* ''Irish folk tales'', (edited with introduction and notes) 1942 * ''The Gaelic Storyteller'', 1945 * ''Leabhar Sheáin Í Chonaill'', 1948 * ''Seanchas ón Oileán Tiar'', (folk history recorded by Robin Flower from Tomás Ó Criomhthain) 1956

References

External links

Biography at Clarelibrary.ie
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODuilearga, Seamus Irish folklorists 20th-century Irish writers 1899 births 1980 deaths Irish-language writers Academics of University College Dublin People from County Antrim