Ní Chatháin, (Máire) Próinséas MRIA (1936 – 24 November 2018), was an Irish scholar, academic and lexicographer, who made substantial contributions to the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

's ''

Dictionary of the Irish Language ''Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials'' (also called "the ''DIL''"), published by the Royal Irish Academy, is the definitive dictionary of the origins of the Irish language, specifically the Old Irish, ...

'' (a dictionary of Old and Middle Irish) and held the position of Professor of Early and Mediaeval Irish at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

Career

Ní Chatháin studied at University College Galway (now

University of Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

) under

Kathleen Mulchrone Kathleen "Kate" Mulchrone (; 22 November 1895 – 13 June 1973) was an Irish Celtic scholar. Biography Kathleen Mulchrone was born in Kilbeggan, County Westmeath on 22 November 1895. She was the youngest of three daughters of RIC sergeant, Pat ...

, where she received a B.A (1956), received a Travelling Studentship from the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

to study in Bonn, and then studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

where she received a PhD in 1966. She was a Scholar at the School of Celtic Studies of the

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...

between 1962 and 1965, and twenty-five years later sat on the governing board of that School (1987–88). She began her teaching career as a visiting lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently joined the Old Irish Department of University College Dublin in 1967, where she rose from assistant lecturer to professor over the course of the next twenty years. There she established an interdisciplinary M.Phil. with the historian Professor

Francis John Byrne Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian. Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. A ...

and later was involved in establishing an undergraduate course in Celtic Civilisation. She held the position of President of the

Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland is an Irish learned society 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 antiquities, langua ...

from 1997 to 2000. In 2002 she was honoured with a festschrift entitled ''Ogma: essays in Celtic studies in honour of Próinséas Ní Chatháin'', edited by her former colleagues Michael Richter and Jean-Michel Picard.

Bibliography

Academics of University College Dublin Members of the Royal Irish Academy 2018 deaths 1936 births Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies {{Ireland-academic-bio-stub