Seán Mac Giollarnáth (1880-29 January 1970) 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 ...

. A native of Coill an Bhogaigh, Gurteen,

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...

, Mac Giollarnáth lived for a time in London before moving to Dublin where he taught at St. Enda's,

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside (Dublin), southside suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in County Dublin. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16, 16. It is between the Lo ...

. From 1909 to 1916 he was editor of '' An Claidheamh Soluis''. He acted as a

courier A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

for the Old I.R.A. during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

. In 1923 he was appointed District Justice, which he held till he retired in 1950. He held a lifelong interest in

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

and

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, which formed the basis for much of his published work. He was awarded an LL.D by the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

in the 1960s.

Select bibliography

* ''Fi-Fa-Fum. In bhfuil Seanann agus an giosadan ponaire nd other tales', Baile Atha Cliath, 1931 * ''Loinnir Mac Leabhair agus scealta gaisgidh eile'', Oifig an tSolathair, Baile Atha Cliath, 1936 * ''Feilre na n-ean'', Oifig an tSolathair, 1940 * ''Cudar agus scealta eile'', Baile Atha Claith, 1949

References

* ''Galway Authors'', Helen Mahar, 1976 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Giollarnath, Sean People from Ballinasloe 20th-century Irish people 1880 births 1970 deaths Irish folklorists Irish-language writers