Tomás Bán Ó Conceanainn (16 November 1870 – 20 April 1961; Thomas Concannon) was an Irish writer and historian.

Life

Ó Conceanainn was born in

Inis Meáin Inishmaan ( ; ga, Inis Meáin , the official name, formerly spelled , meaning "middle island") is the middle of the three main Aran Islands in Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland. It is part of County Galway in the province of Connacht. ...

, a son of Páidín Ó Conceanainn and Anne Ní Fathartaigh. He was educated on the island and at the Patrician national school in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

. In 1885 he went to the US with his brother, attending

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

and Liveamore College, California, graduating from Eastman College, New York, with a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in accountancy. He set up practice in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Returning to Ireland in 1898 on holiday he became involved with the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

, so much so that he remained in the country as one of its organisers. On a 1905 journey to the USA with

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

, they collected twenty thousand dollars. However, they returned it for the relief of San Francisco in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake. He remained an organiser until 1911. In 1912 PH Pearse attempted to persuade him to recruit backers for Pearse's boys' and girls' bilingual Montessori secondary schools Sgoil Éanna and Sgoil Íde, on a percentage basis, but he declined; Seán T Ó Ceallaigh took on the work.Letters of PH Pearse collected by Séamas O'Buachalla Concannon's nephew, Brian Seoighe, was a brilliant student in Sgoil Éanna. He married Helena Walsh – the writer

Helena Concannon Helena Concannon (; 28 October 1878 – 27 February 1952) was an Irish historian, writer, language scholar and Fianna Fáil politician. Born in Maghera, County Londonderry, she attended secondary school in Dublin in Loreto North Great Georges S ...

. The couple collaborated on a number of books. He retired in 1938, and was awarded an honorary

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

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 ...

. He died in Galway in 1946.

Select bibliography

* ''Mion-Chomhradh. Leabhar Cainte Gaedhilge-Bearla'',

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 ...

, 1904 * ''Seoda na Sean. Cuid I'', with Helena Concannon, 1924.

References

* ''Galway Authors'', Helen Maher, 1976 * http://www.ainm.ie/Bio.aspx?ID=187

External links

* http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/duibhin.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:O Conceanainn, Tomas Ban 1870 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Irish historians People from County Galway Irish writers

Life

See also

Select bibliography

References

External links