Tomás Mac Donnchadha de Bhaldraithe (born Thomas MacDonagh Waldron; 14 December 1916 – 24 April 1996) was an Irish scholar notable for his work on the

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 ...

, particularly in the field of

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...

. He is best known for his ''English-Irish Dictionary'', published in 1959.

Biography

Tomás de Bhaldraithe was born on 14 December 1916 in Ballincurra,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

. He moved to

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 ...

with his family at the age of five. He was named after

Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising o ...

one of the signatories of the

Proclamation of the Irish Republic A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...

, who had been executed after the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

earlier that year. He adopted the use of the

version of the name in both Irish and English. He received his second level education at

Belvedere College Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business. History Belvedere owes its origin ...

in Dublin. His stance on standard forms and spellings was supported by

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

despite opposition from traditionalists in the Department of Education, and the work is widely seen as an important benchmark in Irish scholarship. In 1942, he was appointed a professor at the

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

in the department of Celtic Studies. In 1960 he was appointed professor of modern Irish language and literature in

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 ...

, where he developed an impressive archive of material on Irish dialects. Much of the material in this archive was later used as the basis of

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 ...

's ''Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla'', published in 1978, for which he was consulting editor. Also during the 1970s, de Bhaldraithe translated the

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin (May 1780 – 1838) was an Irish language author, linen draper, politician, and one-time hedge school master. He is also known as Humphrey O'Sullivan. He was deeply involved in Daniel O'Connell's Catholic Emancipatio ...

into English. It was then published by

Mercier Press Mercier Press is a publisher based in Cork, Ireland. It is the longest established independent Irish publishing house. History The company was founded in 1944 by Seán Feehan, and initially published religious books. In 1946 they published ''Thi ...

as " The Diary of an Irish Countryman." The language laboratory which he set up in UCD was the first of its kind in any university in Ireland. His interest in seanchas (folklore) led to his publication of ''Seanchas Thomáis Laighléis'' in 1977, while his earlier work includes the ground-breaking study of the

Cois Fharraige (, lit. "Beside the Sea"/ "Seaside"), previously spelled , is a coastal area west of Galway city, where the Irish language is the predominant language (a ). It stretches from , , to . There are between 8,000 and 9,000 people living in this ar ...

dialect (a variety of

Connacht Irish Connacht Irish () is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Connacht. Gaeltacht regions in Connacht are found in Counties Mayo (notably Tourmakeady, Achill Island and Erris) and Galway (notably in parts of Connemara and on ...

), ''Gaeilge Chois Fharraige: Deilbhíocht''. In later years he worked extensively on the definitive Irish dictionary, Foclóir na Nua-Ghaeilge, which remained unfinished when he died in 1996, but which is still in progress today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhaldraithe, Tomas de 1916 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Irish writers 20th-century lexicographers 20th-century linguists 20th-century translators Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Academics of University College Dublin Celtic studies scholars Irish lexicographers Irish-language writers Linguists from Ireland People educated at Belvedere College Translators from Irish Writers from County Limerick