Seán Ó Tuama

Seán Ó Tuama (1926 – 14 October 2006) was an Irish poet, playwright and academic.

Seán Ó Tuama
Born	1926 Cork, Ireland
Died	14 October 2006 (age 80)
Nationality	Irish
Occupations	poet playwright academic
Years active	1950–1997

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.

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. 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, and a member of the Arts Council of Ireland.

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.

External links

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