Ciarán Bairéad (1905–1976) was an Irish

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...

and

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

. Ciarán Bairéad was born into a native Irish speaking family in

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 ...

on 17 February 1905. His parents were Siobhán Ní Mhurchú and Stiofán Bairéad (1867-1921), the first treasurer of

Conradh na Gaeilge (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

. Ciáran Bairéad came to

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

in the mid-1950s working with the

Irish Folklore Commission The Irish Folklore Commission () was set up in 1935 by the Irish Government to study and collect information on the folklore and traditions of Ireland. History Séamus Ó Duilearga (James Hamilton Delargy) founded ''An Cumann le Béaloideas Éir ...

and An Fáinne, an organisation which promoted Irish. Among his works was the transcriptions of ''Leabhar na nAmhrán'', a duanaire of folksongs by Pádhraic Ó Comáin. It is especially valuable as the original appears to be misplaced. In addition he wrote detailed biographies of the lives and works of other scholars in the

Gaelic Revival The Gaelic revival () was the late-nineteenth-century national revival of interest in the Irish language (also known as Gaelic) and Irish Gaelic culture (including folklore, mythology, sports, music, arts, etc.). Irish had diminished as a sp ...

such as Seosamh Laoide. He also conducted interviews with locals of the parish concerning accounts of the 1504

Battle of Knockdoe A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

, on placenames, faction fights and the current use of Irish. Among those interviews were Micheál Ó Síoda and Séan Ó Loirgneáin. Ciarán Bairéad lived in Lackagh, Co Galway for over twenty years. He died on 18 August 1976 and is buried in Claregalway Cemetery. His papers are held in the

National University of Ireland, Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

.Bairéad, Ciarán (1905–1976), ''Ainm.ie''
see also http://www.calmhosting01.com/NUIG/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=G03

References

* ''In Their Own Words: The Parish of

Lackagh Lackagh () is a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Galway, Ireland. It is approximately halfway between Galway city and Tuam (east of a line between these two towns) and bounded by the parishes of Athenry, Abbeyknockmoy, Corofin, ...

Turloughmore Turloughmore ( ; ) is a village in County Galway, Ireland. The name means "the large lake," a notable feature of the area, together with the Clare River (''Abhainn an Chláir''). Turloughmore lies on the N63 national secondary road. It is a sm ...

and its People'', ed. Liz Blackmore, John Cronin, Donal Ferrie and Brid Higgins,

, 2001. . * ''Scríobhaithe Lámhscríbhinní Gaeilge I nGaillimh 1700-1900'', William Mahon, in "Galway:History and Society", 1996 Writers from County Galway 1905 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Irish writers Irish folklorists Irish-language writers {{Ireland-writer-stub

See also

References