Patrick Stephen Dinneen ( ga, Pádraig Ua Duinnín; 25 December 1860 – 29 September 1934) was an Irish

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

and historian, and a leading figure in the Gaelic revival.

Life

Dinneen was born near

Rathmore, County Kerry Rathmore () is a small town in Kerry, Ireland, lying immediately west of the border with Cork. Rathmore is divided into two parts, one being the main commercial centre, and the other being the administrative centre where the schools and churc ...

. He was educated at Shrone and Meentogues National Schools and at St. Brendan's College in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

. He earned

second class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

bachelor's and master's degrees from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...

. The BA (1885) was in classics and

mathematical science The mathematical sciences are a group of areas of study that includes, in addition to mathematics, those academic disciplines that are primarily mathematical in nature but may not be universally considered subfields of mathematics proper. Statisti ...

, the MA (1889) was in

. He joined the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

in 1880 and was ordained a priest in 1894, but left the order in 1900 to devote his life to the study of the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

while still remaining a priest. After his ordination, he taught Irish, English, classics, and mathematics in three different Jesuit colleges, including

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...

, a Jesuit boarding school near

Clane Clane (; ) is a town in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. Its population of 7,280 makes it the eighth largest town in Kildare and the List of towns in the Republic of Ireland by population, 66th largest in Ireland. It ...

, County Kildare. He was a leading figure in the

Irish Texts Society The Irish Texts Society ( ga, Cumann na Scríbheann nGaedhilge) was founded in 1898 to promote the study of Irish literature. It is a text publication society, issuing annotated editions of texts in Irish with English translations and related co ...

, publishing editions of

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...

's , poems by

Aogán Ó Rathaille Aodhagán Ó RathailleVariant Irish spellings of his name include ''Aogán'' and ''Ua Rathaille'' or Egan O'Rahilly (c.1670–1726), was an Irish language poet. He is credited with creating the first fully developed Aisling. Early life It is tho ...

Piaras Feiritéar Piaras Feiritéar (; 1600? – 1653), or Pierce Ferriter, was an Irish clan Chief of the Name, Chief, and Irish poetry, poet. Although best known for his many works of Bardic poetry in the Irish language, Feiritéar is also a widely revered folk ...

, Tadhg Gaelach Ó Súilleabháin, and other poets. He also wrote a novel and a play in Irish, and translated such works as

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's '' A Christmas Carol'' into Irish. His best known work, however, is his Irish–English dictionary, , which was first published in 1904. The stock and plates of the dictionary were destroyed during the Easter Rising of 1916, so Dinneen took the opportunity to expand the dictionary. A much larger second edition, compiled with the assistance of Liam S. Gógan, was published in 1927. Dinneen's request to the

to include Gogan's name on the title page was refused. Gogan continued to work on the collection of words up to his death in 1979. This complementary dictionary was published online in 2011. Fr. Dinneen died in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

at the age of 73 and is buried in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Ghlas Naíon) is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasne ...

, Dublin.Location: Plot No: CH 83.5, St Bridget's, CPS Coordinates: 53°22'19.48"N 6°16'44.04"W

Bibliography

References

External links

* *
Scans of Dinneen's Irish-English dictionary (first edition of 1904)

Searchable version of 1927 edition of Dinneen's Irish-English dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinneen, Patrick S. 1860 births 1934 deaths 19th-century Irish Jesuits 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish lexicographers 19th-century Irish historians 20th-century Irish historians People educated at St Brendan's College, Killarney People educated at Clongowes Wood College Former Jesuits Irish-language writers

Life

Bibliography

See also

References

External links