Diarmaid Ó Muirithe
{{Short description|Irish lexicographer, journalist and author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Diarmaid Ó Muirithe
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1935|11|11}}
| birth_place = New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2014|07|11|1935|11|11}}
| death_place = Vienna, Austria
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
}}
| occupation = Lexicographer, journalist, author
}}
Diarmaid Ó Muirithe (11 November 1935 – 11 July 2014){{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/writer-and-broadcaster-who-lived-for-words-1.1871129|title=Writer and broadcaster who lived for words|date=2014-07-19|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=2019-05-15}} was an Irish lexicographer, journalist and author.
Biography
Ó Muirithe was born in New Ross, County Wexford, attending Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland, before working as a primary school teacher, a freelance writer, and newsroom journalist at RTÉ. He later became a senior lecturer in Irish at University College Dublin, as well as a Fulbright Professor of English in the United States, as well as chair of Irish Studies in St Mary's University, Halifax, Canada. Maurice Manning described Ó Muirithe as "an internationally respected expert on dialect based on his knowledge of English dialect and what has now been recognised as a distinct field of study, Hiberno-English".{{Cite web|url=https://www.ainm.ie/Bio.aspx?ID=3078|title=Ó MUIRITHE, Diarmaid (1935–2014)|website=ainm.ie|language=Irish|access-date=2019-05-15}}
Ó Muirithe came to wider public notice in 1991, when Irish Times editor Conor Brady asked him to submit "a few pieces" on Irish, which became the regular column Words We Use.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/former-irish-times-columnist-diarmaid-%C3%B3-muirithe-dies-1.1864813|title=Former 'Irish Times' columnist Diarmaid Ó Muirithe dies|last=Flaherty|first=Rachel|date=2014-07-12|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=2019-05-15}} The columns were later collected into a short series of books. The column ran until December 2013. It focused on the etymologies of words used in Ireland:
He died in and was buried in Vienna, where he had lived with his second wife.{{Cite web|url=http://www.superannrte.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4271:death-of-colleague-diarmaid-o-muirithe&catid=18&Itemid=103|title=Death of colleague Diarmaid Ó Muirithe|website=www.superannrte.ie|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/newrossstandard/localnotes/diarmaid-was-a-scholar-of-deep-kindness-and-intellect-30449490.html|title=Diarmaid was a scholar of deep kindness and intellect|date=23 July 2014|newspaper=Independent|language=en|access-date=12 February 2020}}The English we speak in Ireland has been influenced by Latin, Old Norse, Norman French, Scots, the English dialects and, of course, Irish. So the words we use in Ireland reflect the social history of the island. It is an extraordinarily rich language.
Poet Séamus Heaney called him a "[k]eeper of Ireland’s word-hoard".
Select bibliography
- The Dialect of Forth and Bargy, with Terence Dolan
- The Wexford Carols, 1982 [https://www.irishcatholic.com/the-wexford-carols-the-music-of-worship/]
- The Folklore of County Wexford, with Deirdre Nuttall)
- A-Z of Irish Names for Children, 2007
- From the Viking word-hoard A dictionary of Scandinavian words in the languages of Britain and Ireland, 2010
- Words We Don't Use (Much Anymore), 2012{{cite book | last=Ó Muirithe | first=Diarmaid | title=Words We Don't Use (Much Anymore) | publisher=Gill Books | publication-place=Dublin | date=2011 | isbn=978-0-7171-4810-3}}
- A supplement to the dictionary of Scandinavian words in the languages of Britain and Ireland, 2013
- A dictionary of Anglo-Irish: Words and phrases from Gaelic in the English of Ireland, 2013
- Last Words
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://bill.celt.dias.ie/vol4/author.php?AuthorID=582 Diarmaid Ó Muirithe] – Bibliography of Irish Linguistics and Literature
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ó Muirithe, Diarmuid}}
Category:20th-century Irish writers
Category:21st-century Irish writers
Category:Scholars and academics from County Wexford
Category:Linguists from Ireland
Category:Academics of University College Dublin
Category:The Irish Times people
Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Category:Alumni of University College Dublin