Robert Atkinson (6 April 1839 – 10 January 1908) was an Anglo-Irish academic, known as a philologist and textual scholar.
Life
Born at
Gateshead on 6 April 1839, he was only child of John Atkinson, who was in business there, by his wife Ann. After education at the Anchorage grammar school close to his home from 1849 to 1856, he matriculated at
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
, on 2 July 1856. He spent the years 1857 and 1858 mainly at
Liège. On his return to Ireland he worked as a schoolmaster in
Kilkenny till he won a Trinity College scholarship in 1862. He graduated B.A. on 16 December 1863, M.A. in 1866, and LL.D. in 1869. In 1891 he received the honorary degree of D.Litt.
In 1869 Atkinson became university professor of the Romance languages, and from 1871 till near his death also had the chair of Sanskrit and comparative philology. He taught the
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...
but also Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and other Indian vernacular languages. He was a Hebrew scholar, and knew Persian, Arabic, and some other languages of Central and Western Asia. In his later years he studied Chinese.
Among his students was
George Abraham Grierson
Sir George Abraham Grierson (7 January 1851 – 9 March 1941) was an Irish administrator and linguist in British India. He worked in the Indian Civil Service but an interest in philology and linguistics led him to pursue studies in the languag ...
, who reported Atkinson's practical interest in martial arts including ''
jujutsu
Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subd ...
''.
On 11 January 1876 Atkinson was elected a member of the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one its leading cultural i ...
, and in March became a member of its council. In 1876 he was chosen librarian. Secretary of council from 1878 to 1901, he was then elected president. Meanwhile in 1884 he was Todd professor of the Celtic languages in the academy, delivering an inaugural lecture on Irish lexicography on 13 April 1885.
His influence was in the direction of a costly dictionary project, now considered grandiose, and which only saw progress when
Carl Marstrander
Carl Johan Sverdrup Marstrander (26 November 1883 – 23 December 1965) was a Norwegian linguist, known for his work on the Irish language. His works, largely written in Norwegian, on the Celtic and Norse components in Norwegian culture, are consi ...
became involved. Around 1899 Atkinson was drawn into a controversy between
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...
and
John Pentland Mahaffy
Sir John Pentland Mahaffy (26 February 183930 April 1919) was an Irish classicist and polymathic scholar.
Education and Academic career
He was born near Vevey in Switzerland on 26 February 1839 to Irish parents, Nathaniel Brindley Mahaffy and ...
on the value of
Early Irish literature
Early Irish literature is one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe, though inscriptions utilising Irish and Latin are found on Ogham stones dating from the 4th century, indicating simultaneous usage of both languages by this per ...
, which he rated low. In reporting to the commission on secondary education, he attacked the folkloric elements, in particular (by implication) the ''Silva Gadelica'', and was himself castigated for taking a political position against the line of the
Gaelic League
(; 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 em ...
.
[Greene, p. 9–11.]
Atkinson was also a botanist and amateur violinist. In 1907 his health failed. He died on 10 January 1908 at his residence, Clareville,
Rathmines
Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to ...
, near Dublin, and was buried at Waltonwrays cemetery,
Skipton
Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River A ...
, Yorkshire.
Works
Atkinson was largely interested in the structure of a language, and his teaching anticipated
Karl Brugmann
Karl Brugmann (16 March 1849 – 29 June 1919) was a German linguist. He is noted for his work in Indo-European linguistics.
Biography
He was educated at the universities of Halle and Leipzig. He taught at the gymnasium at Wiesbaden and at Lei ...
. In the Romance languages his major work was a scholarly edition of a Norman-French poem attributed to
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...
, the ''Vie de Seint Auban'' (1876). In
Coptic studies he was a critic of the work of
Urbain Bouriant
Urbain Bouriant (11 April 1849 – 19 June 1903) was a French Egyptologist, who discovered the Gospel of Peter in a tomb at Akhmim. He is best known from his translation of Al-Maqrizi, published as ''Description topographique et historique de l'Eg ...
and Francesco Rossi.

His connection with the Royal Irish Academy drew Atkinson into Celtic studies. He edited ''The Passions and Homilies from the Leabhar Breac'', with translation and glossary (Dublin 1887, with the ''Todd Introductory Lecture on Irish Lexicography''), and
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 ...
's ''Three Shafts of Death'' (Tri Bior-gaoithe an Bhais, Dublin, 1890), with glossary and appendices on the linguistic forms. He also wrote introductions for several of the manuscript facsimiles issued by the Royal Irish Academy: ''The Book of Leinster'' (1880), ''The Book of Ballymote'' (1887), and ''The Yellow Book of Lecan'' (1896). With
John Henry Bernard
John Henry Bernard, PC (27 July 1860 – 29 August 1927), was an Irish Anglican clergyman.
Biography
Bernard was born in Raniganj, India. He was a scholar in Trinity College Dublin in 1879, graduated with a BA in mathematics in 1880. He was el ...
, he edited for the
Henry Bradshaw Society
The Henry Bradshaw Society is a British-based text publication society founded in 1890 for the scholarly editing and publication of rare liturgical texts.
Foundation
An initial meeting to plan the Henry Bradshaw Society took place in London on 3 ...
in 1898 ''The Irish Liber Hymnorum'' (2 vols). A ''Glossary to the Ancient Laws of Ireland'' for the
Rolls series
''The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages'' ( la, Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores), widely known as the is a major collection of British and Irish historical materials and primary sources publish ...
, 1901, was criticised by
Whitley Stokes
Whitley Stokes, CSI, CIE, FBA (28 February 1830 – 13 April 1909) was an Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar.
Background
He was a son of William Stokes (1804–1878), and a grandson of Whitley Stokes the physician and anti-Malthusian (1763� ...
. He also wrote a paper ''On the use of the Subjunctive Mood in Welsh'' (Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 1894).
Family
On 28 December 1863 Atkinson married, at Gateshead, Hannah Maria, fourth daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Whitehouse Harbutt of the town. Their only child, Herbert Jefcoate Atkinson, became a civil engineer.
References
*David Greene, ''Robert Atkinson and Irish studies'', Hermathena No. 102 (Spring 1966), pp. 6–15. Published by: Trinity College Dublin
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23039787
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Robert
1839 births
1908 deaths
Linguists from the United Kingdom
People from Gateshead
Members of the Royal Irish Academy