Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
John Thomas Gilbert,
LLD,
FSA,
RIA
A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea.
Definitions
Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...
(born 23 January 1829,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
- died 23 May 1898, Dublin) was an Irish archivist, antiquarian and historian.
Life
John Thomas Gilbert was the second son of John Gilbert, an English Protestant, who was Portuguese consul in Dublin, and Marianne Gilbert, an Irish Catholic, daughter of Henry Costello. He was born in
Jervis Street
Jervis Street is a street on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland laid out in the 17th century and named for Sir Humphrey Jervis.
Location
It runs from Parnell Street in the north to Ormond Quay Lower in the south. It is crossed by Mary Str ...
, Dublin. His early days were spent at Brannockstown,
County Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...
. He was educated at Bective College, Dublin, and at
Prior Park, near
Bath, England. He received no university training, as his mother was unwilling for him to attend the Anglican
Trinity College, Dublin, which was at that time the only university in Dublin. In 1846, his family moved to
Blackrock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...
, a Dublin suburb, where he resided until his death, 52 years later.
At age 19, he was elected to the Council of the Celtic Society, and thus became associated with some of the famous writers and orators of the age:
Butt,
Ferguson,
Mitchel, and
Smith O'Brien. His essay, ''Historical Literature of Ireland'', appeared in 1851, and four years later he became a Member of the
Royal Irish Academy, and secretary of the Irish Celtic and Archaeological Society, whose members included
O'Donovan,
O'Curry
Curry is a common surname used in Ireland, Scotland and England. Currey is a less common variant. In England and Scotland, the is thought to derive from local place names and, in Scotland, also possibly from MacMhuirich (surname), MacMhuirrich ...
,
Graves,
Todd, and
Wilde
Wilde is a surname. Notable people with the name include:
In arts and entertainment In film, television, and theatre
* '' Wilde'' a 1997 biographical film about Oscar Wilde
* Andrew Wilde (actor), English actor
* Barbie Wilde (born 1960), Canad ...
. In 1862, he was awarded the Royal Irish Academy's
Cunningham Medal.
Taking on the most important posts in the historical and antiquarian societies, he became librarian of the
Royal Irish Academy for thirty-four years. In 1891 he married the Irish novelist
Rosa Mulholland. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the Royal University in 1892, and five years later was knighted for his services to archaeology and history.
The Gilbert Library, in Dublin's
Pearse Street
Pearse Street () (formerly Great Brunswick Street) is a major street in Dublin. It runs from College Street in the west to MacMahon Bridge in the east, and is one of the city's longest streets. It has several different types of residential and c ...
, is named after him.
Works
*''History of the City of Dublin (1854-9)'', in three volumes.
*''History and Treatment of the Public Records of Ireland'' (1863) which caused considerable sensation, arguing to the government the futility of entrusting the publication of Irish State documents to men unskilled in the Irish language.
*''History of the Viceroys of Ireland'' (1865)
*''Calendar of the Ancient Records of Dublin (7 vols., 1889–98)''
*''History of the Irish Confederation and the War in Ireland, 1641-9 (7 vols., 1882–91)''
*''Jacobite Narrative of the War in Ireland, 1688-91'' (1892).
Other
Celtic scholars are indebted to him for photographic reproductions of ancient Irish manuscripts, for the establishment of the Todd lectureship in Celtic, and also for editions of ''
Leabhar na h-Uidhre'' and ''
Leabhar Breac
An Leabhar Breac ("The Speckled Book"; Middle Irish: An Lebar Brec), now less commonly Leabhar Mór Dúna Doighre (The Great Book of Dun Doighre") or possibly erroneously, Leabhar Breac Mic Aodhagáin ("The Speckled Book of the MacEgans"), is a ...
''.
References
Citations
Sources
*
External links
Books by John Thomas Gilbert Online ''University of Pennsylvania Library''
A contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. I, Part I.A contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. I, Part II.A contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. II.A contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. III.
A Passion for Books : The Gilbert Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, John Thomas, Sir
1829 births
1898 deaths
19th-century Irish historians
Irish antiquarians
Members of the Royal Irish Academy
Writers from Dublin (city)
Knights Bachelor