Eugene O'Curry

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Eugene O'Curry

Eugene O'Curry (born November 1794 in Doonaha , County Clare , † July 30, 1862 in Dublin ) was an Irish professor of history and archeology .

O'Curry was born in Doonaha, County Clare in 1794. He grew up on his family's farm . From his father he learned to read and write the Irish language . He later moved to Limerick to work in a madhouse . In total, he worked there for 20 years. During these years, O'Curry was a noted collector of various manuscripts, some of which were acquired by the Royal Irish Academy . Through his contacts, he was finally appointed to the Ordnance Survey for topographical and historical work in 1835 .

Before O'Curry, no other scholar had studied the manuscript material found in Ireland, some centuries old, so intensively. He created the first scientific interpretations and made copies of individual works from the holdings of the Royal Irish Academy and Trinity College . Through O'Curry's research and the topographical studies of John O'Donovan , which the two did between 1835 and 1842, contributed greatly to the work of the Ordnance Survey and led to a number of important publications, as well as the Ordnance Survey Letters .

After the Ordnance Survey department in the O'Curry was closed in 1842, he worked at the Royal Irish Academy and compiled a catalog of all the manuscripts in the possession of the Royal Irish Academy. The result of his work comprised several volumes, including summaries of the respective manuscript contents. These years at the Royal Irish Academy were, in addition to being productive, a financially difficult period for O'Curry. He had meanwhile started a family, O'Curry and O'Donovan had married two sisters, and had to get by on a low and insecure income. Only his later professorship should free him from this situation.

In 1854 he was selected by John Henry Newman, the rector of the newly founded Catholic University in Dublin, the Department of History and Archeology ( Chair of Irish Archeology and History ) appointed . This was one of the first chairs for archeology in Ireland and was held by O'Curry until his death.

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SURNAME O'Curry, Eugene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish university professor
DATE OF BIRTH November 1794
PLACE OF BIRTH Doonaha , County Clare
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 1862
Place of death Dublin