Nollaig Ó Muraíle

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Nollaig Ó Muraíle, published an acclaimed edition of Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's Leabhar na nGenealach in 2004.

Contents

[edit] Life and career

A native of Knock, County Mayo, Ó Muraíle attended National University of Ireland, Maynooth where he was a postgraduate student enrolled for a Phd. Placenames Officer with the Ordnance Survey of Ireland 1972-1993. Reader in Irish and Celtic Studies at Queen's University Belfast to 2004. Senior Lecturer at the School of Irish, National University of Ireland, Galway from 2005. Married to Tresa Ní Chianáin with children Róisín and Pádraic. Lives in Dublin.

[edit] Ó Muraíle and Mac Fhirbhisigh

In 1971, at the suggestion of an tAithair Tomás Ó Fiach (later Tomás Cardinal Ó Fiaich), then Professor of Modern History at Maynooth, Ó Muraíle began work on Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's Leabhar na nGenealach. This was continued under the directior of Professor of Old and Middle Irish, an tAthair Pádraig Ó Fiannachta.

Upon joining the Placenames Branch of the Ordnance Survey in late 1972, Ó Muraíle had already translated over one hundred pages, albeit from Eugene O'Curry's copy. Access to the autograph of Leabhar na nGenealach however remained difficult; only on 28 August 1979, at University College Dublin's new home of Belfield, was he able to begin transcription of the original, which he finished on 10 September 1981. It had taken a total of 88 sessions in UCD Special Collections Reading Room.

Typing began in late 1982 and was complete by 4 September 1984. By early 1988, after much tedious work, the Cumire was also successfully in transcript. His PhD dissertation, submitted in September 1991 on the life, background and work of Mac Fhirbhisigh, was fully two volumes totally 1,086 pages.

Early in 1998, Ó Muraíle was approached by fellow Mayoman, Eamonn de Burca, with an offer to publish his edition of Leabhar na nGenealach. De Burca insisted on a full translation of the text into English (with the original Irish text on the facing page) in opposition to Ó Muraíle's wish to publish with Irish text only. De Burca prevailed, and the book, titled The Great Book of Irish Genealogies, was published in five volumes (vols. IV and V alone consisting of indices) in 2004, with ver 3,100 pages in a full buckram gilt presentation box. It remains Ó Muraíle single greatest contribution to Irish scholarship, and has being described as one of the most important contributions to Irish history ever.

[edit] Publications

The following is a provisional list of Ó Muraíle's publications.

[edit] Articles

  • An Outline History of Co. Mayo, pp. 10-35, in Mayo: Aspects of its Heritage, ed. Bernard O'Hara, 1982. ISBN 0 9508233 0 9.
  • Mayo Placesnames, pp. 55-83, same publication.
  • The Principal Surnames of Mayo,, page 83, same publication.
  • Aois na Lámhscribhinni Móra, in The Maynooth Review, No.9, pp.42-72, 1983.
  • The Barony-Names of Fermanagh and Monaghan, in Clougher Record, No.s 11-13, pp. 387-402, 1984.
  • The Gaelic personal name (an) Dubhaltach, in Anim No. 2, pp.1-26, 1987.
  • The Autograph Manuscrips of the Annals of the Four Masters, in Celtica No. 19, pp.75-95, 1987.
  • Leabhar Ua Maine alias Leabhair Uí Dhubhagáin, in Éigse No.2, pp. 167-195, 1989.
  • The Carneys of Connacht in Sages, Saints and Storytellers: Celtic Studies in Honour of Professor James Carney, pp.342-357, ed. Ó Corráin, Breatnach and McCone, Maynooth, 1989. ISBN 1 870684 07 9.
  • A page from Mac Fhir Bhisigh's "Genealogies", in Celtica No. 21, pp.533-560, 1990.
  • Pól Breathnach (1885-1941), Sagart, Saoi is Seanchaí, in Léachtaí Cholmcille No.23, pp.81-120, 1992.
  • The Irish genealolgies as an onomastic source, in Nomina No.16, pp.23-47, 1992.
  • Agallamh na Seanórach, in Léachtaí Cholmcille No.25, pp.96-127, 1995.
  • Aspects Intellectual Life in Seventeenth Century Galway, in Galway:History and Society, ed Gerard Moran and Raymond Gillespie, pp.149-211, 1996. ISBN 0 90 660 75 0.
  • Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh and County Galway, in "Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society," pp. 23-35, Vol. 49, 1997.
  • Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa: His Time, Life and Legacy, in Clougher Record, pp. 45-64, 1998.
  • Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa and the Annals of Ulster, by Aubrey Gwynn, in Clougher Record, 2/2 (1958) pp.230-43 and 2/3 (1959), pp. 370-84. Ed. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, Enniskillen, 1998.
  • Clann Bhaldraithe or Clann Bhaildrín, the Waldron Family - its origins, kindred and related names, in The Waldron Journal, pp.6-22, volume 5, 1998.
  • Some Early Connacht Population Groups, in Seachas: Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour of Francis J. Byrne, ed. Alfred P. Smyth, Four Courts Press, Dublin, pp.161-177, 2000. ISBN 1 85182 489 8.
  • Settlement and Placenames in Gaelic Ireland c.1250-c.1650: Land, Lordship and Settlement, Patrick J. Duffy, David Edwards and Elizabeth FitzPatrick (eds.), pp. 223-245, Four Courts Press, 2001. ISBN 1 85182 800 1 pbk.
  • Some Thoughts on Matters Onamastic, in Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, pp.23-41, volume 53, 2001.
  • Uí Fhailghe, Uíbh Fhailí, etc.; The Name of Offaly, in Offaly Heritage: Journal of the Offaly Archaeological and Historical Society,, pp. 9-11, volume one, 2003.
  • Linking Clann Aodhagáin with Mac Fhirbhisigh, in The Irish Genealogist, volume 11, no. 3, 2004.
  • Temair/Tara and Other Places of the Name, in The Kingship and Landscape of Tara, ed. Edel Bhreathnach, Four Courts Press, Dublin, pp.449-477, 2005. ISBN 1851829547.
  • The Learned Family of Ó Cianáin/Keenan, in Clougher Record, pp.387-436, 2005.
  • Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh and County Mayo, in Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, pp.1-21, volume 58, 2006.

[edit] Books

  • Mayo Places: Their Names and Origins, 1985.
  • The Celebrated Antiquary: Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (c.1600-1671) - His Life, Lineage and Learning, An Sagart, Maynooth, 1996; reprinted 2003. ISBN 1903896 05 3; ISSN 0 790 8806.
  • Irish Leaders and Learning Though the Ages, Paul Walsh: Essays collected, edited and introduced by Nollaig Ó Muraile, 2003. ISBN 1-85182-543-6.
  • The Great Book of Irish Genealogies, Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhish: Edited, with translation and indices by Nollaig Ó Muraíle Five volumes. Dublin, DeBurca, 2004. ISBN 0 946130 36 1.
  • Turas na dTaoiseach nUltach as Éirinn from Ráth Maoláin to Rome:

Tadhg O Cianáin’s contemporary narrative of the so-called ‘Flight of the Earls’, 1607-8, (editor), Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2007. ISBN 978-88-901692-1-2

  • Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, His Associates and St Anthony’s College Louvain, (editor), Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84682-082-3

[edit] Other

  • New introduction to the Annals of Ulster, volume one, pp.1-73 (The Annals of Ulster, otherwise Annala Senait. A chronicle of Irish affairs from A.D. 431 to A.D. 1540. With translation, notes, and index.) Published by Éamonn de Búrca, Blackrock, Dublin, 1998.
  • Contributor and reader to The Encylopaedia of Ireland, general editior Brian Lalor, Gill & MacMillian, 2003. ISBN 0 7171 3000 2.

[edit] External links