Brian Ó Cuív | |
---|---|
Born | 1917 |
Died | 14 November 1999 | (aged 83)
Nationality | Irish |
Occupation | Scholar |
Spouse | Emer de Valera |
Children | 9 |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Celtic studies |
Sub-discipline | Irish history and philology |
Institutions | University College Dublin |
Notable works | The Irish of West Muskerry, Co. Cork: A Phonetic Study |
Brian Ó Cuív (1916 – 14 November 1999) was a Celtic scholar who specialised in Irish history and philology.
Ó Cuív was professor of Celtic Studies at University College Dublin and later at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. [1] His later years were devoted to the compilation of a catalogue of the Irish manuscripts in the University of Oxford. [2] The completed catalogue was published after his death.
He married Emer de Valera — a daughter of Éamon de Valera. They had nine children. Emer died in 2012. [3] Their son — Éamon Ó Cuív — is a prominent Irish politician. [1]
Ó Cuív's surname was changed from Ó Caoimh ( O'Keeffe) by his father, Shán Ó Cuív, a Cork journalist, who in the early 20th century changed the spelling of his surname to conform with a simplified spelling system of his own invention, which he called An Leitriú Shimplí. [4] The letter ' v' is extremely rare in Irish outside modern loanwords. [5] [6]
His works include: