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, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

and Director of the

Irish Folklore Commission The Irish Folklore Commission () 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 Delargy) founded ''An Cumann le Béaloideas Éir ...

. 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. 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 '' Oidhche Sheanchais'' (1935), the first

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

sync sound Sync sound (synchronized sound recording) refers to sound recorded at the time of the filming of movies. It has been widely used in movies since the birth of sound movies. History Even in the silent film era, films were shown with sounds, often ...

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

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland () 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 three branches in Dublin, the arch ...

(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