Tomás Mac Donnchadha de Bhaldraithe (born Thomas MacDonagh Waldron; 14 December 1916 – 24 April 1996) was an Irish scholar notable for his work on the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

, particularly in the field of

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretical le ...

. He is best known for his ''English-Irish Dictionary'', published in 1959.

Biography

Tomás de Bhaldraithe was born on 14 December 1916 in Ballincurra,

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

. He moved to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

with his family at the age of five. He was named after

Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh (; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916, a signatory of the Proclama ...

one of the signatories of the

Proclamation of the Irish Republic The Proclamation of the Republic (), also known as the 1916 Proclamation or the Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising in Ireland, which began on 24 April 1916. ...

, who had been executed after the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

earlier that year. He adopted the use of the

version of the name in both Irish and English. He received his second-level education at

Belvedere College Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...

in Dublin. His stance on standard forms and spellings was supported by

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

despite opposition from traditionalists in the Department of Education, and the work is widely seen as an important benchmark in Irish scholarship. In 1942, he was appointed a professor at 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 ...

in the department of Celtic Studies. In 1960 he was appointed professor of modern Irish language and literature in

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 ...

, where he developed an impressive archive of material on Irish dialects. Much of the material in this archive was later used as the basis of

Niall Ó Dónaill Niall Ó Dónaill (27 August 1908 – 10 February 1995) was an Irish language lexicographer from Ailt an Eidhinn, Loughanure, County Donegal, Ireland. He was the oldest of the six children of Tarlach ÓDónaill and Éilis NicRuairí from Gria ...

's ''Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla'', published in 1978, for which he was consulting editor. Also during the 1970s, de Bhaldraithe translated the

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin (May 1780 – 1838) was an Irish language author, linen draper, politician, and one-time hedge school master. He is also known as Humphrey O'Sullivan. He was deeply involved in Daniel O'Connell's campaigns for Cath ...

into English. It was then published by

Mercier Press Mercier Press is a publisher based in Cork, Ireland. It is the longest established independent publishing house in Ireland. History The company was founded in 1944 by Seán Feehan and initially published religious books. In 1946 they publishe ...

as " The Diary of an Irish Countryman." The language laboratory which he set up in UCD was the first of its kind in any university in Ireland. His interest in seanchas (folklore) led to his publication of ''Seanchas Thomáis Laighléis'' in 1977, while his earlier work includes the ground-breaking study of the Cois Fharraige dialect (a variety of

Connacht Irish Connacht Irish () is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Connacht. Gaeltacht regions in Connacht are found in Counties Mayo (notably Tourmakeady, Achill Island and Erris) and Galway (notably in parts of Connemara a ...

), ''Gaeilge Chois Fharraige: Deilbhíocht''. In later years he worked extensively on the definitive Irish dictionary, Foclóir na Nua-Ghaeilge, which remained unfinished when he died in 1996, but which is still in progress today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhaldraithe, Tomas de 1916 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Irish writers 20th-century lexicographers 20th-century Irish linguists 20th-century Irish translators Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Academics of University College Dublin Celtic studies scholars Irish lexicographers 20th-century Irish-language writers People educated at Belvedere College Translators from Irish Scholars and academics from County Limerick