De Lacy Evans O'Leary (1872–1957) was a British Orientalist who lectured at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

and wrote a number of books on the early history of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

s and

Copts Copts (; ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptians, Egyptian population, des ...

Personal life

De Lacy Evans O'Leary was born in Devon in 1872, the eldest child of Henry O'Leary (1831–1908), a Mauritius-born Anglo-Irish former captain in the New Zealand militia, and Julia Hornsey (1841–1884). On his father's side, O'Leary was descended from Irish Catholics of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, and included one of the generals in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

's Peninsular Campaign. Brought up as a Protestant and educated at

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, mixed, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowe ...

, O'Leary converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in about 1888 and began to train for the priesthood at

Prior Park College Prior Park College is a co-educational public school for both boarding and day pupils in Bath, south-west England. Its main building, Prior Park, stands on a hill overlooking the city and is a Grade I listed building. The adjoining Prior P ...

near Bath, before returning to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

in 1890. He never married, and was an active freemason.

Career

O'Leary studied at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

(1891–95) before becoming a minister in the Church of England, and later undertook further studies towards a Master of Arts at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

(1905). He was awarded second prize in Trinity College's Elrington Theological Prize (1903) for an essay on the Epistle of St James, and the following year the Elrington Theological Prize itself for the essay "An Examination of the Apostolical Constitutions and of the cognate documents, with special view to those which have recently been made accessible". O'Leary was special lecturer at the University of Bristol from 1908 until 1957, teaching

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

, Syriac, and

Hellenistic Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic ...

. He was the first chairman of the Bristol University Convocation, which represents graduates of the university, between 1910 and 1928. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was Captain-Chaplain of the university's Officer Training Corps and in 1916 served as a chaplain to the British Expeditionary force in Egypt. O'Leary was made Inspector of Schools in religious knowledge for the

Diocese of Bristol The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far east ...

and vicar of Christ Church in the poor Barton Hill district of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

from 1909 until his retirement in 1946. Despite the large population of his parish, church attendance was poor and declined during his tenure. There was controversy about his curacy of the parish, which led to questions in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

in 1952 and an appeal to the Privy council. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he retired from his parish and went to live in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

with his sister, although he continued to visit the university occasionally. The church was later closed and torn down.

Works

O'Leary published several Coptic liturgical manuscripts. These included: * * * * * * He wrote books about Christian and Coptic literature. These included: * * * * * He also wrote a number of books about Arabic history, including: * * * * *

Notes and references

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, De Lacy 1872 births 1957 deaths British historians People educated at Bristol Grammar School People educated at Prior Park College