Irish Language: And so the literary journey of Máire Ní Mhurchú and Diarmuid Breathnach comes to an end with this, the eighth volume of Beathnaisnéis. They have enjoyed a unique writing partnership that has lasted 24 years and has produced 1.2 million words of biography.
Their journey started in 1560 and they have tracked the lives and achievements of Irish-speaking scholars, broadcasters, writers, folklorists, educationalists and musicians from then until the present day.
Writing in Irish is often, even for the most stout-hearted, a lonely affair.
There can be a tendency among contemporary scribblers to feel a little self-pity that they and their art are not recognised; that they are the unloved remnants of a tradition; unloved by the stuck-up English speakers and their global language and, worse, unloved by Irish speakers themselves who, for various reasons, don't beat a regular enough path to the bookshop.
Ó Murchú and Breathnach show that far from being the begin-agains, contemporary writers are the inheritors of a rich culture.
Beathaisnéis is a gateway into that history, a university of intellectuals who talk to us from beyond the grave.
Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich and the novelist Breandán Ó hEithir keep company with unfamiliar names such as Áine Ó Cnáimhín of Edenderry, Co Offaly (they had Irish-language writers in Offaly!) who speaks anew; she wrote a pioneering study of the writer Pádraic Ó Conaire. And then there's Cathaldus Ó Gibealláin, a Francisian scholar, who wrote a PhD on another Franciscan scholar, Aodh Mac Aingil of Louvain fame.
The little vignettes on each person remind the reader of their great regard for the written word.
Some critics may dismiss them as "minor" writers and, for sure, few enough of them have been acknowledged for their endeavours. Nonetheless, their contribution is profound; they sought to re-map our cultural landscape.
It's always a pleasure to make new acquaintances. We should all be grateful that Ní Mhurchú and Breathnach have given us the opportunity to chat afresh.
Beathaisnéis (1983-2002)Máire Ní Mhurchú and Diarmuid Breathnach An Clóchomhar, 320pp. NPG