Dáithí Ó hÓgáin
Dáithí Ó hÓgáin (13 June 1949 – 11 December 2011), Irish folklorist, was professor of Irish folklore at University College Dublin. Born in Co. Limerick, he was a writer well-versed both in English and Irish, as well as being an academic. Life and works. Dáithí Ó hÓgáin was born in Bruff, Co. Limerick, on 13 June 1949, a son of former jockey Davy Hogan and his wife Mary (née Tyrell). He obtained a BA in Modern Languages (Irish, English) History and Philosophy, then an MA in 1971 in the Irish Language Irish at the University College Dublin , followed by a PhD in Folklore in 1976. His doctoral thesis at UCD, overseen by Bo Almqvist was later republished as "An File" in 1983. Its theme was the lore on how poets received the gift of poetry, and the supernatural powers poetry could manifest according to folk tradition. Before obtaining his doctorate, he had an 18-month stint as a radio journalist at the Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). While at the department, he gained acquaintance with three important scholars in the field, Seán Ó Súilleabháin, Caoimhín Ó Danachair and Séamus Ó Duilearga, the founding father of Irish folklore scholarship . He also served as rector of "An Cumann Gaelach" while at UCD. Dáithí Ó hÓgáin has written many books, including six poetry collections and one in English, and three short story collections, eight research books, and numerous research articles on literature, folklore, history and etymology, in scholarly journals and in encyclopaedias. One notable effort was the massive tome, "Myth, Legend and Romance - an Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition" (1990), later reissued under the title "The Lore of Ireland: an Encyclopaedia of Myth, Legend and Rom" (2006), covering a wide range of folkloric material, from ancient times into the modern . He was instrumental in drafting UNESCO's recommendations on the protection of world folklore in 1987, and was co-founder of the European Center for Traditional Culture in Budapest in 1994. He rose from associate professor to professor at the Folklore Department at UCD, but was forced into early retirement in 2009 due to failing health. He has lectured and read his poetry throughout Ireland and other countries: England, Comre, Scotland, France, Monaco, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Hungary and Iceland. He is well known as a radio and television broadcaster, and has produced four radio dramas. Sat, 00:0