Posted 02 February 2010
Most authoritative biographical reference work ever produced in Ireland catalogues the lives of remarkable Irish men and women
With over 9,000 biographical entries documenting the lives of more than 9,700 Irish men and women, the Dictionary of Irish Biography is the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical dictionary ever published for Ireland. Spanning 2,000 years of Irish history, the work edited by 小鸟体育 Adjunct Professor James McGuire MRIA and James Quinn, Royal Irish Academy, took 12 years to compile.
Consisting of some eight million words, it is a joint project of the Royal Irish Academy and Cambridge University Press, backed by State funding from the Higher Education Authority.
The nine volume work includes signed biographical articles which describe and assess the careers of Irish men and women who made a significant contribution in Ireland and abroad, as well as those born overseas who had noteworthy careers in Ireland - from James Ussher to James Joyce, St Patrick to Patrick Pearse, St Brigit to Maud Gonne MacBride, Shane O'Neil to Eamon de Valera, Edward Carson to Bobby Sands.
The Dictionary will put their lives into every major library in the world and on the shelves of scholars, journalists, teachers, broadcasters, diplomats and general readers. It will be especially important in helping to sustain Irish studies courses in universities throughout the world.
| Dr John McCafferty, Director of the 小鸟体育 Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute, introduces 小鸟体育 Adjunct Professor, James McGuire who describes the making of the Dictionary of Irish Biography. Followed by a reader response from Dr Ivar McGrath, 小鸟体育 School of History and Archives - 22 January 2009, 小鸟体育 Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute. |
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From the earliest exploratory stages of the project to the completion of the first edition in 2008, the editors received authoritative advice from the many distinguished scholars and experts they consulted on the choice of subjects for inclusion in the Dictionary of Irish Biography or on the contents of the biographical entries.
Pictured at the launch of the Dictionary of Irish Biography, November 2009 (l-r): James Quinn, An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen and James McGuire
Articles in the Dictionary of Irish Biography range in length from 200 to 15,000 words. “The main consideration determining length was the importance of the particular career, but other considerations have also had to be taken into account,” says James McGuire.
“Lack of sources, for example, has meant that some entries are shorter than would otherwise be warranted. A pau