Proinsias Mac Cana (6 July 1926 – 21 May 2004) was an academic and Celtic scholar. He held professorships 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 ...

and

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

Proinsias Mac Cana was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

on 6 July 1926 to George McCann and his wife Mary Catherine, ''née'' Mallon; his

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parents were supporters of

Irish nationalism Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

. He attended

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, graduating with a degree in

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

in 1948. After a year at the Sorbonne, he completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree at Queen's, where he was appointed an assistant lecturer in 1951. Two years later, the university awarded him a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

(PhD). In 1955, he moved to the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

, as an assistant lecturer in Early Irish. In 1957, he was promoted to a

lectureship Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. ...

. While there, he taught Old and

Middle Welsh Middle Welsh (, ) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh (). Literature and history Middle Welsh is ...

. In 1961, he was appointed Professor of Celtic Studies at the

and two years later became Professor of Welsh at

where he became Professor of Early Irish in 1971. In 1985, he returned to the Dublin Institute to take up a senior professorship, and retired in 1996 afterwards being appointed to

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

professorship. He had been President of 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 ...

between 1979 and 1982."A respected scholar of the Celtic languages, culture and traditions"
''The Irish Times'', 29 May 2004. Retrieved 17 December 2018.W. J. McCormac

''The Independent'', 2 June 2004. Retrieved 17 December 2018. According to ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', Mac Cana's "main field of research was early Irish tales, and the mythology informing them, and in this field he was pre-eminent. ... He broadened and deepened the understanding of the links between the languages, cultures and traditions of the

Celtic peoples Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia ** Celts (modern) *Celtic languages ** Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music * Celtic nations Sports ...

of Ireland and Britain. And through his scholarship and teaching he was an interpreter of the Irish to the Welsh and of the Welsh to the Irish." Mac Cana published widely and in retirement worked to restore the

Collège des Irlandais In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He died on 21 May 2004.

Honours and awards

Mac Cana was a member of

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Gustavus Adolphus Academy. In 1997, the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

awarded him its Derek Allen Prize for Celtic Studies. He was also awarded

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

by several universities, and was presented with a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

: ''Ildánach Ildírech'' in 1999.John Carey, John T. Koch and Pierre-Yves Lambert (eds.), ''Ildánach Ildírech'' (Celtic Studies Publications, 1999).

Selected publications

* ''Celtic Mythology'' ( Hamlyn, 1970). * ''The Learned Tales of Medieval Ireland'' (

, 1980). * ''Literature in Irish'', Aspects of Ireland series, no. 8 (

Department of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

, 1980). * (Co-edited with

Michel Meslin Michel Meslin (29 September 1926 in Paris – 12 April 2010 in Paris) was a professor at and president of the Université de Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV).''Rencontres de religions'' Proinsias Mac Cana, Michel Meslin, Georges Dumézil - 1986 "Michel ...

) ''Rencontres de Religions: Actes du Colloque du Collège des Irlandais tenu sous les Auspices de l'Académie Royale Irlandaise'' (Les Belles Lettres, 1986). * (Co-edited with Jeanne-Marie Boivin) ''Mélusines Continentales et Insulaires: Actes du Colloque International tenu les 27 et 28 Mars 1997 à l'Université Paris XII et au Collège des Irlandais'' (

Honoré Champion Honoré Champion (1846–1913) was a French publisher. He founded Éditions Honoré Champion in 1874 and published scientific works geared towards laymen, particularly concerning history and literature. Champion died from an embolism on 8 April ...

, 1999). * ''Collège des Irlandais Paris and Irish Studies'' (

, 2001). * ''The Cult of the Sacred Centre: Essays on Celtic Ideology'' (

, 2011).

Career

Honours and awards

Selected publications

References

Further reading