Henry O'Brien (1808–1835) was an Irish

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and author best known for his hypothesis concerning

Irish round tower Irish round towers ( (singular), (plural); Literal translation, literally 'bell house') are early medieval stone towers of a type found mainly in Ireland, with two in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man. As their name indicates, they were ori ...

Life

Henry O'Brien was the son of an aristocratic family from the west of Ireland. At an early age he studied Latin and Greek and took an interest in ancient Greek literature. Later he obtained a degree in classics at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. In 1833 O'Brien published an essay in the ''Transactions 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 ...

'' entitled "On the Origin and Use of the Round Towers of Ireland" which won a second place reward of £20. Henry O'Brien thought however that he should have won first place and in a lengthy preface to his published essay in book form entitled ''The Round Towers of Ireland, or the Mysteries of Freemasonry, of Sabaism, and of Buddhism'' (1834) attacked archaeologist George Petrie who won the £50 first place reward. O'Brien later translated Joaquín Lorenzo Villanueva's ''Hibernia Phoenicea'' into English as ''Phœnician Ireland'' but soon after died, on 28 June 1835, at only 27 years of age by "bad health, aggravated by his studious habits", he was later buried in Hanwell, Oxfordshire.

Irish Round Tower theory

Henry O'Brien first proposed that the

s were created by a pre-Christian

phallic A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

cult among the

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuatha Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gaelic ...

who he connected to the daughters of

Danaus In Greek mythology, Danaus (, ; ''Danaós'') was the king of Libya. His myth is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's ''Iliad'', " Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and " Argives" comm ...

. His theory when first published caused a lot of controversy at the time, as well as sparking criticism. Today, the mainstream consensus among archaeologists and historians is that the

s were created during the early medieval period, not pre-Christian period which O'Brien proposed.

Works

''The Round Towers of Ireland, or the Mysteries of Freemasonry, of Sabaism, and of Budhism'' (1834)Later reprinted as: ''The round towers of Ireland, or, The history of the Tuath-De-Danaans'' (1898), ''The round towers of Atlantis'' (Adventures Unlimited Press, 2002) and ''Atlantis in Ireland'' (Kessinger Publishing, 2003). However despite the two latter titles, O'Brien's work contains no reference to Atlantis.
''Phoenician Ireland'' (translated by Henry O'Brien, 1837)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:O'Brien, Henry * 1808 births 1835 deaths Irish writers Irish classical scholars Alumni of Trinity College Dublin