Seán Ó Tuama

Years active1950–1997

Seán Ó Tuama (1926 – 14 October 2006) was an Irish poet, playwright and academic.^[1][2]

Life

Raised in the southern city of Cork and educated at the North Monastery (North Mon) school and University College Cork, Ó Tuama first came to prominence in 1950 with his anthology of modern Irish language poetry titled Nuabhéarsaíocht 1939-1949.^[3]

Notable academic works include An Grá in Amhráin na nDaoine, an analysis of medieval and Renaissance European influences on Irish song, which is credited as being a source of inspiration for poets including Liam Ó Muirthile and Gabriel Rosenstock.^[3] The anthology An Duanaire: Poems of the Dispossessed, a collection of poems in the Irish language dating from the 16th to 19th centuries selected by Ó Tuama and accompanied by translations of the poems into English by Thomas Kinsella, was published in 1981.

Ó Tuama was the Professor of Irish Literature at University College Cork, and visiting professor at Harvard, Oxford and Toronto University. He was also chairman of Bord na Gaeilge for a time,^[3] and a member of the Arts Council of Ireland.^[4]

Awards

• 1983 American Book Award

Works

Poetry

• Faoileán Na Beatha (Baile Átha Cliath, An Chlochomar Tta., 1962)
• Rogha dánta: Death in the Land of Youth: New and Selected Poems of Sean O Tuama. Translated by Peter Denman. Cork University Press. 1997. ISBN 978-1-85918-157-7.

Plays

• Gunna Cam agus Slabhra Oir. Drama Vearsaíochta Thrí Ghníomh (Baile Átha Cliath, Sairseal Agus Dill). Folens and Co. Ltd. 1973. ISBN 978-0-902592-52-0.
• Ar aghaidh linn, a Longadáin
• Moloney
• Is é seo m'oileán
• Corp Eoghain Uí Shúilleabháin
• Déan trócaire ar shagairt óga
• Iúdás Iscariot agus a bhean
• Scéal ar Phádraig

Academic works

• An Grá in Amhráin na nDaoine (An Clochomhar Tta., 1960)
• An Grá i bhFilíocht na nUaisle (1988)

Anthologies

• Seán Ó Tuama, ed. (1981). An Duanaire: Poems of the Dispossessed. Translated by Thomas Kinsella. Dublin: Dolmen Press. ISBN 978-0-85105-363-9.
• Coiscéim na hAoise Seo, an anthology of 20th-century poetry in Irish

Essays

• Cúirt, Tuath agus Bruachbhaile, An Clóchomhar Tta, 1990
• Nuabhéarsaíocht 1939-1949 (as editor, Baile Atha Cliath, Sairseal agus Dill, 1950)
• The Facts About Irish. Coraigh: An Comhar Poiblí. 1964.
• The Gaelic League Idea. Cork: Mercier Press. 1972.
• Repossessions, selected essays on the Irish literary heritage. Cork University Press. 1995. ISBN 978-1-85918-044-0.

References

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20090717102354/http://www.irishwriters-online.com/seanotuama.html