Identity Statement for Peadar Ua Laoghaire
- Reference code: IE UCDA P33/A
- Title: Papers of Peadar Ua Laoghaire (1839–1920)
- Dates: 1903–18
- Level of description: Item
- Extent: c.50pp
- Context
- Content and Structure
- Conditions of Access and Use
Biographical History
Peadar Ua Laoghaire was born at Liscarrigane, near Macroom, County Cork. Ordained a priest in 1867, he was assigned to various parishes in north county Cork until he was made parish priest of Castlelyons in 1891. When the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) was founded in 1893, Ua Laoghaire, a native speaker of Irish, realised that young people needed reading matter in the Irish language if it were ever to be restored. His most famous work, Séadna, a Faustian tale written in dialectical Munster Irish, was the most widely read novel in the Irish language for many years. Ua Laoghaire was made a canon in 1906 and died in Castlelyons in 1920.
Scope and Content
Twelve letters from Peadar Ua Laoghaire, Castlelyons, County Cork, to Sister Evangelist (Brigidine Convent, Goresbridge, County Kilkenny), in which he refers to contemporary attitudes toward the Irish language, her attempts to learn Irish, and his own writings. Five leaves of prayers and sayings in Irish are included.
- Access: Available by appointment to holders of a UCD Archives reader's ticket. Produced for consultation in digital format.
- Language: English and Irish