A file of letters from An tAthair Peadar Ó Laoghaire, Castlelyons (Caisleán Ó Liatháin), County Cork. The letters primarily relate to Ó Laoghaire’s publications on the Irish language and various grammatical, translation, and textual issues. The letters are seemingly addressed to a religious sister (possibly Sister Treasa le hÍosa or Sister Teresa Curtis). The file includes one letter to Ó Laoghaire from Sister Treasa le hÍosa, St. Clare’s Convent, Carlow. The letter dated 1899 is addressed to ‘Conchubhair’. One of Ó Laoghaire’s letters (31 May 1915) reads ‘I say it is quite possible for the translation of the original into one language to be superior to a translation of the same original into another language’. Reference is also made to Mairéad Ní Raghallaigh, one of the founders of the Irish Book Company. The file includes transcripts of some of the letters compiled by Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. An annotated envelope in the file reads ‘I think this a letter from Fr. Peter O’Leary, Castlelyons, County Cork’. The cover is addressed to Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Church Street Friary, Dublin.
Copies of letters of An tAthair Peadar Ó Laoghaire to Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and ‘Sister Joseph’. The copies are on ‘The Capuchin Annual / Church Street / Dublin’ headed paper and were probably compiled by Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. The letter to Fr. Albert (17 Sept. 1906) reads ‘The word “léighean” comprises every sort of literary speech as distinguished from oral speech, i.e., books of all sorts, whether written or printed’.
The subseries comprises a small collection of papers relating to the Irish scholar and writer An tAthair Peadar Ó Laoghaire (Peter O’Leary). Ó Laoghaire was a prominent Irish language activist and member of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League). He published numerous books and articles on a range of topics, including an autobiography (‘Mo Sgéal Féin’), the first drama in Irish (‘Tadhg saor’), original prose, Irish translations of the Gospels, and translations of medieval Irish texts. The collection includes his letters to Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. and Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., two Capuchin friars who shared Ó Laoghaire’s enthusiasm for the promotion of the Irish language. This collection also includes some material relating to Ó Laoghaire’s published work, particularly clippings of his transcriptions and translations of Irish texts, and a manuscript draft of ‘An Craos-Deamhan’. Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. was interested in Ó Laoghaire’s career and sought to promote his contribution to the Irish language. He seemingly acquired most of this material for personal research. The Ó Laoghaire collection was later preserved among Moynihan’s personal papers.
