Tomás Bán Ó Conceanainn (16 November 1870 – 20 April 1961; Thomas Concannon) was an Irish writer and historian.
Life
Ó Conceanainn was born in
Inishmaan
Inishmaan ( ; , the official name, formerly spelled , meaning "middle island") is the middle of the three main Aran Islands in Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of County Galway in the province of Conn ...
, a son of Páidín Ó Conceanainn and Anne Ní Fathartaigh. He was educated on the island and at the Patrician national school in
Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
. In 1885 he went to the US with his brother, attending
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
and Liveamore College, California, graduating from Eastman College, New York, with a
M.A. in accountancy. He set up practice in Mexico.
Returning to Ireland in 1898 on holiday he became involved with the
Gaelic League
(; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...
, so much so that he remained in the country as one of its organisers. On a 1905 journey to the US with
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Ross Hyde (; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician, and diplomat who served as the first president of Ireland from June 1938 to June 1945. He was a l ...
, they collected twenty thousand dollars. However, they returned it for the relief of San Francisco in the aftermath of the
1906 earthquake. He remained an organiser until 1911.
In 1912
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, Irish poetry, poet, writer, Irish nationalism, nationalist, Irish republicanism, republican political activist a ...
attempted to persuade him to recruit backers for Pearse's boys' and girls' bilingual Montessori secondary schools
Scoil Éanna and Scoil Íde, on a percentage basis, but he declined;
Seán T. O'Kelly
Seán Thomas O'Kelly (; 25 June 1882 – 23 November 1966), originally John T. O'Kelly, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the second president of Ireland from June 1945 to June 1959. He also served as deputy prime minister of Ir ...
took on the work.
[Letters of PH Pearse collected by Séamas O'Buachalla] Concannon's nephew, Brian Seoighe, was a student in Scoil Éanna.
In 1906, he married the writer
Helena Walsh. The couple collaborated on a number of books. He retired in 1938, and was awarded an honorary
LL.D.
A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...
by
University College Galway
The University of Galway () is a public university, public research university located in the city of Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland.
The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Ga ...
. He died in Galway in 1946.
See also
*
Concannon Vineyard
Concannon Vineyard is the second-largest winery in the Livermore Valley of California, producing around 30,000 cases annually. It is well known for its Petite Sirah and Concannon was the first winery to bottle this grape as a varietal wine in 196 ...
*
Kings of Uí Díarmata
Kings of Uí Díarmata from c.971 onwards. There are large temporal gaps where no kings or lords are attested.
* Tadhg of Uí Díarmata, died 971
* Giolla Comáin mac Néill, died 991
*Muirgheas mac Aedh, died 999
*Mac Cú Ceanain, died 1021.
* Mu ...
Select bibliography
* ''Mion-Chomhradh. Leabhar Cainte Gaedhilge-Bearla'', Dublin, 1904
* ''Seoda na Sean. Cuid I'', with Helena Concannon, 1924.
References
* ''Galway Authors'', Helen Maher, 1976
* http://www.ainm.ie/Bio.aspx?ID=187
External links
* http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/duibhin.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:O Conceanainn, Tomas Ban
1870 births
1961 deaths
20th-century Irish historians
People from County Galway