ART O BEOLAIN: Art Ó Beoláin, who has died aged 83, was a former assistant secretary of the Department of Social Welfare with a strong commitment to the Irish language and a deep attachment to the Kerry Gaeltacht and its people.
He was born on January 8th, 1920, the eldest of the two children of Arthur (Attie) Boland and his wife Katherine (née Kennelly), Ballylongford, Co Kerry. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father, a draughtsman, had been employed in the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast where he worked on drawings of the Titanic. Moving to Kerry to establish a garage business, he set up house in the former home of The O'Rahilly.
Having completed his primary education, Art Ó Beoláin attended Coláiste na Rinne, Co Waterford, for six months before enrolling at Castleknock College in Dublin. He entered the civil service in 1938 as a clerical officer with the Land Commission. In 1946 he was appointed a third secretary at the then Department of External Affairs, where Conor Cruise O'Brien was a colleague. Deciding against a career in the diplomatic service, he transferred to the Department of Social Welfare in 1949. He was personnel officer of the department from 1960 to 1973, afterwards serving as chief appeals officer until 1976. He then served as assistant secretary (assistance division) of the department, retiring in 1981.
Moving in Irish-language circles in Dublin, he was associated from the outset with An Cumann Merriman. He socialised in O'Neill's of Merrion Row, a pub with a strong Irish-speaking contingent among its clientele.
Sundays were reserved for walking the Dublin Mountains with his close friends Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, Tomás de Bhaldraithe and David Green.
Art Ó Beoláin was an accomplished linguist. He was awarded full marks for his Leaving Certificate Irish paper, although he was not a native speaker. He then mastered Spanish, French and Russian. Retaining a good grasp of Latin learned at school, he acquired a working knowledge of Italian.
His memory was phenomenal and he could quote at length from any book he had read, whether it was two weeks or 20 years ago. Every subject interested him and in expressing an opinion he was ever discreet, effective and quietly persuasive.
In the early 1950s he and his family began spending holidays in Corca Dhuibhne. The family's first destination was Dun Chaoin where he became friendly with "Pound" (Séamus Ó Luing), who was the subject of a Seán Ó Ríordáin poem, and Joe Daly, the renowned folklore collector. Later, having sampled the attractions of Árd na Caithne, he built a house there in 1975 that became the family home when he retired.
Throughout his retirement he kept in touch with the wider world, buying Le Monde and El Pais in Dingle, where An Caife Liteartha was a regular haunt. Chekhov, Kafka, Maupassant and Lorca were among his favourite authors. The Irish writers whose work he admired and enjoyed included Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Máirtín Ó Direáin and Máirtín Ó Cadhain.
Apart from reading, he occupied himself gardening and writing. One of the his books was Merriman agus Filí Eile, published in 1985. It was named the Cumann Merriman Book of the Year.
He regarded the Corca Dhuibhne poets as the salt of the earth, writing: "Tá simplíocht agus sofaisticiúlacht fite fuaite trína chéile san urleabhra a chleachtadar. Cé gur pobal gan saíocht a bhí iontu, bhíodar in ann iad féin agus an saol mór a léamh go maith. Ní 'picturesque' nó 'quaint speech' a bhíodh ar siúl acu mar a bhí faoin am sin ag a gcomh-Chiarraígh i dtuaisceart an chontae, ach urleabhra éasca solúbhta a bhí múnlaithe ag na glúnta a chuaigh rompu agus a bhí fite trína saol mar a bhíonn an dlúth tríd an inneach."
He is survived by his wife Máire (née Finucane), daughter Frances, and brother Joe.
Art Ó Beoláin: born, January 8th, 1920; died, April 13th, 2003