Peadar Ua Laoghaire
Father Peadar Ua Laoghaire or Peadar Ó Laoghaire, also anglicised as Peter O'Leary, was an Irish writer and Catholic priest, who is regarded today as one of the founders of modern literature in Irish.
Life
He was born in Liscarrigane in the parish of Clondrohid, County Cork, and grew up speaking Munster Irish in the Muskerry Gaeltacht. He was a descendant of the Carrignacurra branch of the Ó Laoghaire of the ancient Corcu Loígde.He attended Maynooth College and was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in 1867. He became a parish priest in Castlelyons in 1891, and it was there that he wrote his most famous story, oldwikisource:Séadna, and told it as a fireside story to three little girls. Séadna was the first major literary work of the emerging Gaelic revival. It was serialised in the Gaelic Journal from 1894, and published in book form in 1904. The plot of the story concerns a deal that the shoemaker Séadna struck with "the Dark Man". Although the story is rooted in the folklore the writer heard from shanachies by the fire during his youth, it is also closely related to the German legend of Faust. It was first published as a serial in various Irish-language magazines.
Apart from Séadna, Ua Laoghaire wrote an autobiography called oldwikisource:Mo Sgéal Féin, published by Norma Borthwick's Irish Book Company. In addition, he translated some stories of medieval Gaelic literature into modern Irish, such as Eisirt and An Cleasaí, and translated an abridged version of Don Quixote into his local dialect of Irish.
Peadar Ua Laoghaire became known for his support for caint na ndaoine, the real Irish of the people rather than any attempt to revive older forms of Irish. But he also drew careful distinctions between what he saw as good Irish and bad Irish, saying in chapter 5 of Mo Sgéal Féin,
Before I left Liscarrigane, I had never heard from anybody's mouth phrases such as "tá mé", "bhí mé", "bhí siad"; I always used to hear "táim", "bhíos", "bhíodar", etc. Little things! – but little things that come repeatedly into conversation. A taut mode of expression, as against one that is lax, makes for finish in speech; in the same manner, a lax mode of expression as against the taut, makes for speech that is deficient. Besides, the taut speech possesses a force and a vigour that cannot be contained in speech that is falling apart...The loose mode of expression is prominent in Gaelic today and English is nothing else. English has fallen apart completely.
Accordingly, he strongly promoted Cork Irish as what he saw as the best Irish for propagation among the people.
He died in Castlelyons at the age of 80.
Works
The following is a partial list of his works:Ar nDóithin Araon, 1894Mion-chaint, an easy Irish phrase book, compiled for the Gaelic League, 1899Eólas ar áireamh, arithmetical tables in Irish, 1902An Soísgéal as Leabar an aifrinn, 1902- Irish prose composition: a series of articles, including several upon the Irish autonomous verb, 1902Aesop a Tháinig go hÉirinn, 1903Sgothbhualadh, a series of articles in Irish reprinted from the "Leader", 1904Séadna, 1904 An Craos-Deamhan, 1905An Bealach Buidhe, a drama, 1906Tóruigheacht Dhiarmuda agus Ghráinne, 1906Niamh 1907Eisirt, 1909Seanmóin agus trí fichid, sermons for every Sunday and holy day of the year, 1909–10An sprid: Bas Dalláin: Tadhg Saor, three short plays, 1911An Cleasaidhe, 1913Caitilina, 1913Aithris ar Chríost, 1914 Sliabh na mban bhFionn agus Cúan Fithise, 1914Lughaidh Mac Con, 1914Bricriu, 1915Na Cheithre Soisgéil as an dTiomna Nua, 1915 Mo Sgéal Féin, 1915Guaire, 1915Ag Séideadh agus ag ithe, 1918An teagasg críosdaidhe, edited by Ua Laoghaire, 1920Don Cíchóté, a partial translation of Miguel de Cervantes' early 17th century novel Don Quixote, 1921Gníomhartha na nAspol, 1921 Lúcián, 1924Sgéalaidheachta as an mBíobla naomhtha, 1924 Críost Mac Dé, 1925Sgealaidheacht na Macabéach, 1926 Aodh Ruadh, an adaptation of the life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell originally by Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh in the 17th century, 1929
- Notes on Irish words and usages
- Papers on Irish idiom: together with a translation into Irish of part of the first book of Euclid, by the late canon Peter O'Leary; edited by Thomas F. O'Rahilly.Cómhairle ár leasa, articles published in the "Leader"Mo shlighe chun Dé: leabhar urnaighthe