Patrick Weston Joyce, commonly known as P. W. Joyce (1827 – 7 January 1914) was an Irish historian, writer and music collector, known particularly for his research in Irish etymology and local place names of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Biography

He was born in Ballyorgan in the

Ballyhoura Mountains The Ballyhoura Mountains ( ga, An Sliabh Riabhach) are located in south-east County Limerick and north-east County Cork in central Munster, running east and west for about 6 miles on the borders of both counties. Features The southern part of th ...

, on the borders of counties

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2 ...

and

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in Ireland, and grew up in nearby Glenosheen. The family claimed descent from one

Seán Mór Seoighe Seán Mór Seoighe () was an Irish steward, stonemason, and builder. He was the ancestor of many of the Joyce families of County Kerry, County Limerick, and County Cork, including that of the author James Joyce, Patrick Weston Joyce and Rober ...

(fl. 1680), a stonemason from

Connemara Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Robert Dwyer Joyce Robert Dwyer Joyce (1830–1883) was an Irish poet, writer, and collector of traditional Irish music. Life He was born in County Limerick, Ireland, where his parents, Garret and Elizabeth (née O'Dwyer) Joyce, lived in the northern foothills of ...

was a younger brother. Joyce was a native Irish speaker who started his education at a

hedge school Hedge schools ( Irish names include '' scoil chois claí'', ''scoil ghairid'' and ''scoil scairte'') were small informal secret and illegal schools, particularly in 18th- and 19th-century Ireland, designed to secretly provide the rudiments of ...

. He then attended school in

Mitchelstown Mitchelstown () is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 3,740. Mitchelstown is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains, 12 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Caves, 28 km from Cahir, 50 ...

, County Cork. Joyce started work in 1845 with the Commission of National Education. He became a teacher and principal of the Model School,

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Drogheda and Wexford. With the exception of the townla ...

. In 1856 he was one of fifteen teachers selected to re-organize the national school system in Ireland. Meanwhile he earned his B.A. in 1861 and M.A. in 1863 from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

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 ...

. He was principal of the Training College, Marlborough Street, in

from 1874 to 1893. As a member of the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language he wrote an Irish Grammar in 1878. He was President of the

Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland is a learned society based in Ireland, whose aims are "to preserve, examine and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with the antiquit ...

from 1906 to 1908, an association of which he was a member from 1865. Joyce was a key cultural figure of his time. His wide interests included 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 ...

Hiberno-English Hiberno-English (from Latin '' Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland ...

, music, education, Irish literature and folklore, Irish history and antiquities, place-names and much else. He produced many works on the history and culture of Ireland. His most enduring work is the pioneering ''The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places'' (first edition published in 1869). He was a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one its leading cultural ...

Collection at St. Patrick's College

The P.W. Joyce collection at the Cregan Library in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin, reflects many of Joyce's interests and includes several rarities. These include autographed presentation copies by Joyce and his brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

, as well as books from Joyce's own library. The collection also contains nine manuscripts associated with Joyce and his family members, including a manuscript in P.W. Joyce's own hand of ''Echtra Cormaic itir Tairngiri agus Ceart Claíd Cormaic'' (''Adventures of Cormac in the Land of Promise''), a passage from the ''

Book of Ballymote The ''Book of Ballymote'' (, RIA MS 23 P 12, 275 foll.), was written in 1390 or 1391 in or near the town of Ballymote, now in County Sligo, but then in the tuath of Corann. Production and history This book was compiled towards the end of th ...

'', which Joyce translated into English.

Select works

*''The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places'' (3 volumes, 1869, 1875, 1913) *''Irish Local Names Explained'' (1870) *''Ancient Irish music'' (1873), with piano accompaniments by

John William Glover John William Glover (19 June 1815 – 19 December 1899) was an Irish composer, conductor, organist, violinist, and teacher. Life and music Glover was born in Dublin, where he initially became an orchestral violinist as early as 1830. In 1848, he ...

(1815–1899) *''A Handbook of School Management'' (1876) *''An Irish Grammar'' (1878) *''On the Old Celtic Romances'' (1879) *''Old Irish Folk Music'', 842 airs, partly from the Forde and Pigot collections (1909) *''Irish Peasant Songs'' *''Irish Music and Song'' (1888) *''A Concise History of Rome: From the Foundation of Rome to the Death of Trajan, 117 A.D.'' *''A Concise History of Ireland'' *''A History of Gaelic Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1608'' (1893) *''English as We Speak it in Ireland'' (1910) *''Ireland's Battles and Battlefields'' *''Irish Names of Places'' *''Old Irish Folk Music and Songs'' *''A Social History of Ancient Ireland'', 2 vols. (1906) *''The Story of Ancient Irish Civilisation'' (1907) *''The Wonders of Ireland'' (1911)

Bibliography

* Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion of English Literature'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985) * Seamus Deane (ed.), ''The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing'' (Derry: Field Day, 1991), vol. 2

References

External links

* * *
A Concise History of Ireland (by P. W. Joyce)

Origin and History of Irish Names of Places
Available online at Archive.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Patrick Weston 1827 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Irish historians 20th-century Irish historians Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery Irish folklorists Irish folk-song collectors Irish-language writers Linguists of Irish Members of the Royal Irish Academy Writers from County Limerick