Every nation needs its national biography. Since 1986, the needs of "pobal na Gaeilge" in this regard have been wonderfully served by Diarmuid Breathnach and Maire Ni Mhurchu's Beathaisneis
1882-1982. With this, the sixth volume in the series, they step back 100 years. Like its predecessors, this volume is a marvel of scholarship, succinctness, wit, and style. With an unerring feeling for the telling word or phrase, the editors combine the general outlines of many various careers with the humorous or dramatic particulars which are inevitably memorable or quotable or both. Their ability to incorporate the available research, as well as the sources of their information, into the narrative is unrivalled. The management of the material, the clarity of writing, and the lively presentation are exemplary.
What kinds of people do we meet within these covers? The Introduction addresses the question comprehensively and with mild irony: "historians who wished to show that Ireland was a civilised country before the arrival of the Normans; those involved in changing religion who used the language in their affairs, whether they be founders of the various movements, teachers, writers, or the enemies of those movements; ecclesiastics of all kinds who were conscientiously administering to the Irish speaking community; scribes and their patrons; antiquaries . . . literati . . . poets, writers and scholars . . . Young Irelanders . . . those working in the field of placenames . . ." And many more. The volume also contains a supplement to the previous five volumes.
Nor should the province of the book be confined to readers of Irish. Many of the entries contain copious quotations and references in English which are well worth reading and consulting in themselves. The book is ideal for browsing, for casual reference, for indulging in the idle pleasure of reading, as well as being an indispensable source of information on the people in question. There are few, if any, of the biographies which do not contain some incident, anecdote, or historical fact worth the retelling. I cannot resist quoting one which, for a time, enriched my daydreams as I imagined it being said to any one of a number of present day politicians.
In the entry on Henry Flood (c1730-91) who left money to Trinity College for the support of the Irish language, the editors quote Henry Grattan who accused him of dishonesty, thereby leading to an aborted duel: "I therefore tell you in the face of your country, before all the world and to your beard, you are not an honest man". "Beard" I took to be a metaphor for "your co-operation with the Tribunal".
Liam Mac Coil is a novelist and critic