Énrí Ó Muirgheasa


Énrí Ó Muirgheasa , was an Irish civil servant, folklore collector and writer.

Biography

Born in Cashlan East, Lisdoonan, Donaghmoyne County Monaghan was a son of Lúcas Ó Muirgheasa, a farmer, and Máire Nic Ward. He attended Lisdoonan school but learned to read and write as Gaeilge from his granduncle, Proinsias Ó Conghaile. He was appointed monitor at Lisdoonan school in 1888, where he established the first Monaghan branch of the Gaelic League. Ó Muirgheasa graduated as a teacher from St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, in 1900, obtaining a teacher post at St. Malachy's, Dundalk, in 1901, where he was one of the founders of the Louth Historical and Archaeological Society in 1903.

Family

Ó Muirgheasa married harpist and fellow teacher, Eibhlín Ní Raghallaigh/Helen O'Reilley of Dundalk in 1906. Their son, Colum, was born and died in 1907. Eibhlín died in 1908. In 1912, he remarried to Máire Woods from County Galway..