William Haliday (1788–1812) was an Irish language enthusiast. He sometimes used a

Gallicized Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), Frenchification, or Gallicization is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by more ...

version of his name William O'Hara, in some documents his surname is misspelt ''Halliday''. The son of a Dublin tradesman, he was born around 1788, he studied the Irish language, and produced a grammar of it aged 19 under another the assumed name, Edmund O'Connell (signing ''E.O'C''). He trained as a solicitor. In 1808 he assisted Edward O'Reilly, Dr. John Lanigan, and Father Paul'O'Brien (Professor of Irish at

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

) in founding the Gaelic Society of Dublin, an effort to save 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 ...

. He died aged 24, on 26 October 1812 and is buried in Taney Parish, graveyard, Dundrum, with an inscription on his tomb by Dr. Lanigan. His younger brother was the historian

Charles Haliday Charles Haliday (1789–1866) was an Irish public health reformer, historian and antiquary who made significant contributions to the study of the history of Dublin, being particularly interested in the Scandinavian antiquities of the city. Earl ...

Publications

* ''Uraicecht na Gaedhilge (A grammar of the Gaelic language)'' by "Edmund O'Connell (E.O'C)" (a pseudonym for William Haliday), Printed by John Barlow, in Dublin (1808).Early Gaelic Books Collection
National Library of Scotland

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haliday, William 1788 births 1812 deaths Linguists of Irish Linguists from Ireland