Cornelius O'Leary

Cornelius O'Leary (born September 30, 1927 in Limerick , Republic of Ireland , † September 7, 2006 ) was an Irish historian and political scientist .

Life

O'Leary grew up in Cork , Ireland, and attended University College Cork (UCC), where he graduated in 1949 with an honorable degree in history and Latin . His Ph.D. he obtained at Nuffield College , Oxford with the election researcher David Butler . Before completing his doctoral thesis , he taught at various high schools in London .

In 1960 he was called as a Catholic to Queen's University Belfast in Belfast , Northern Ireland , as a lecturer in Political Science . In 1962 his doctoral thesis in Oxford was published by Clarendon Press . His appointment as professor in Belfast was rejected for years and did not take place until 1979. O'Leary explained this with the fact that the university was ruled by the Unionists in 1960 and later .

As a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, O'Leary dealt with the phenomenon of unionism despite the rejection by the Protestant establishment of Northern Ireland, even became an advisor to the Ulster Defense Association (UDA). In the last few years of his life, O'Leary advocated the rights-to-life movement and advocated the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland , which puts a ban on abortion in the country's constitution . This attitude earned him opposition from many Irish women's rights activists .

Towards the end of his life, O'Leary became addicted to alcohol, missed lectures and seminars and ended up living in hotels and pensions without a permanent address. He is buried in the cemetery of Timoleague Abbey in County Cork , Ireland.

Works (selection)

• Doctoral thesis: The Elimination of Corrupt Practices in British Elections, 1868–1911. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1962.
• with Ian Budge: Belfast: Approach to Crisis. A Stud of Belfast Politics, 1613-1970. Macmillan, London 1973, ISBN 0-333-01708-0 .
• Celtic Nationalism: An Inaugural Lecture Delivered before the Queen's University of Belfast on May 11, 1981 . University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland 1982, ISBN 0-853892113 .
• with Sydney Elliot and RA Wilford: The Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982–1986: A Constitutional Experiment. Hurst 1988, ISBN 1-85065-036-5 .
• with Patrick Maume: Controversial Issues in Anglo-Irish Relations 1910–1921. Four Courts Press, Dublin 2004, ISBN 1-85182-657-2 .

Web links

• Obituary in The Guardian