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Edward MacLysaght

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Edward MacLysaght
MacLysaght c. 1960
Senator
In office
11 December 1922 –17 September 1925
Personal details
Born
Edgeworth Lysaght

(1887-11-06)6 November 1887
Somerset,England
Died4 March 1986(1986-03-04)(aged 98)
County Dublin,Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyIndependent
Spouses
  • Mabel "Maureen" Pattison
    ​
    ​
    (m.1913)​
  • Mary Cuneen
Children5
Parent
EducationRugby School
Alma materCorpus Christi College, Oxford

Edgeworth Lysaght,laterEdward Anthony Edgeworth Lysaght,and from 1920Edward MacLysaght(Irish:Éamonn Mac Giolla Iasachta;6 November 1887 – 4 March 1986)[1]was a genealogist of twentieth-centuryIreland.His numerous books onIrishsurnames built upon the work of Rev. Patrick Woulfe'sIrish Names and Surnames(1923).[citation needed]

Early life and education[edit]

Edgeworth Lysaght was born atFlax Bourton,Somerset(nearBristol), toSidney Royse Lysaght,of Irish origin, a director of the family iron and steel firmJohn Lysaght and Co.and a writer of novels and poetry, and Katherine (died 1953), daughter of Joseph Clarke, ofWaddington, Lincolnshire.Lysaght's grandfather, Thomas Royse Lysaght, was an architect, and his great-grandfather, William Lysaght, a small landowner distantly connected with theBarons Lisle.[2]Lysaght was named "Edgeworth Lysaght" after his father's friend, the economistFrancis Ysidro Edgeworth;"Edward" was added at baptism, and he was called "Ned". "Anthony" was added at confirmation. He lost the sight in one eye after a childhood accident.[3]

Lysaght was educated at Nash House preparatory school, Bristol, and atRugby School,where he was unhappy, his parents' frequent absence due to his father's business responsibilities necessitating travel to South America, South Africa, and Australia contributing to this. He was a contemporary there ofRupert Brooke,whose father was Lysaght's housemaster. Eighteen months after leaving Rugby, on the advice of Francis Edgeworth, he then went toCorpus Christi College, Oxford,to study law, but, having on his own account "had a wild time as part of the smart set" and anticipatingrusticationafter a drunken incident, he left after three terms.[3]

Life in Ireland[edit]

Lysaght took up residence in a caravan atLahinch,County Clare,Ireland, where he had previously holidayed and become friendly with local people. His father, himself strongly connected to his Irish boyhood and wanting to establish himself as a "country gentleman", recognized his son's enthusiasm for Ireland and in 1909 bought a 600-acre estate atTuamgraney,at which Lysaght would farm until 1913, introducing an electrical generator and other forms of modernization[4]including the development of a limekiln, nursery, and school where young men of means could learn the basics of farming.[4]This was the beginning of a metamorphosis for Lysaght; although of English upbringing, he disliked the local gentry, considering them "layabout rentiers", and preferred to make friendships amongst employees and his neighbours.

He sought to replace his English accent with a Clare one, and eschewed his lack of religion (despite an Anglican upbringing)[5]of a few years before in favour ofRoman Catholicism,and became involved in theGaelic League.An integral factor in Lysaght's reinvention was his relationship with Mabel ( "Maureen" ) Pattison; five years his senior, they had met when Lysaght spent a period at a Dublin hospital. She was born and raised in South Africa, her father a civil servant there, but had an Irish family including a local postmistress. Lysaght's family sought to avoid what they considered an unsuitable marriage, sending Lysaght and his brother Patrick on a world tour taking in Ceylon and Japan, but they were nevertheless married at theBrompton Oratoryon 4 September 1913. They had two children. Mabel introduced him to friends in the Arts Club, and Lysaght entered Dublin literary society; his "somewhat overdone" attempts to "give himself a new, more Irish identity" were noticed by acquaintances. Lysaght's father invested £300 in Maunsell's publishers, who produced Lysaght's book of poemsIrish eclogues.[3]As of the early 1930s, he served on the General Committee of theMunster Agricultural Society.[6]He and Mabel later divorced in South Africa. Lysaght remarried to Mary Cuneen. He had three children with his second wife.[3]

By 1915 Lysaght's command of Irish had improved dramatically, and in that year he founded the Nua-Ghaeltacht at Raheen,County Clare.[4]

He was an independent delegate to the 1917–1918Irish Conventionin which he opposedJohn Redmond's compromise onHome Rule.By 1918 his involvement in all aspects of the Irish independence movement had deepened greatly. Although not known if he was actually a member of theIrish Republican Army(IRA), he was very active in theIrish War of Independenceas a supporter, financially and otherwise, of the East Clare Brigade of the IRA.[3]

In 1919, he published a largely autobiographical novel entitledThe Gael.[3]In 1920, Lysaght, along with others of the name, changed his name to "MacLysaght", "so as to emphasise its Gaelic origin".[3]

His Raheen office served as a meeting place for the Volunteers and guns, documents and ammunition were stored there. However, the war led to a sharp decline in the fortunes of his farm. The execution of close friends such as Conor Clune of Quin in November 1920 and the subsequent devastating raids on his farm resulted in his playing a far more active role inSinn Féinas a loyal supporter of the newTDforClare,Éamon de Valera.For this, he was imprisoned following his return from Britain as part of aSinn Féindelegation which was publicising theBlack and Tansatrocities.

Later life[edit]

MacLysaght was elected to theFree State Seanad Éireannin 1922.[7]He was appointed Inspector for theIrish Manuscripts Commissionin 1938. MacLysaght was elected to theRoyal Irish Academyin 1942 and in the same year was awarded aD.Litt.He was appointedChief Herald of Irelandin 1943 and served in this post until 1954. MacLysaght served as Keeper of Manuscripts at theNational Library of Irelandfrom 1948 to 1954 and was Chairman of the Irish Manuscripts Commission from 1956 to 1973.

Death[edit]

MacLysaght died on 4 March 1986, aged 98, and was interred in the graveyard ofSt. Cronan's Church, Tuamgraney.[8]

Works[edit]

  • Irish Life in the Seventeenth Century(1939)
  • The Surnames of Ireland
  • MacLysaght, Edward (1957).Irish Families: Their Names, Arms and Origins.Dublin: Hodges Figgis & Co Ltd.
  • Supplement to Irish Families
  • More Irish Families
  • More Irish FamiliesincorporatingSupplement to Irish Families
  • The Gael(1919)
  • Cursaí Thomáis(1927)
  • Changing Times(1978)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Corpus Christi College Oxford Biographical Register 1880-1974, ed. Neil A. Flanagan, Philip A. Hunt, Oxford University Press, 1988, p. 205
  2. ^A History of GKN: Volume 2- The Growth of a Business, 1918-45, Edgar Jones, Springer, p. 22
  3. ^abcdefgLysaght, Charles."MacLysaght, Edward Anthony Edgeworth".Dictionary of Irish Biography.Retrieved30 December2023.
  4. ^abc"Edward MacLysaght (1887–1986)".ricorso.net.
  5. ^North American Gaels: Speech, Story, and Song in the Diaspora, ed. Natasha Summer,Aidan Doyle,McGill-Queens University Press, 2020
  6. ^"Cork Summer Show".Cork Examiner.24 June 1932.
  7. ^"Edward MacLysaght".Oireachtas Members Database.Retrieved14 August2014.
  8. ^Battersby, Eileen."Through the door of history".The Irish Times.Retrieved31 March2019.

Sources[edit]

  • Ó Ceallaigh, Seán (2003). Liam Prút (ed.).Éamonn Mac Giolla Iasachta, 1887-1986: beathaisnéis.Baile Átha Cliath: Coiscéim. pp. 475p.
  • Princess Grace Irish Libraryat theWayback Machine(archived 11 September 2004), database of Irish writers; comprehensive listing of life and works. Retrieved 5 August 2010. Archived 2004.
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