Irish civil servant, writer and translator (1886–1943)
Liam Ó Rinn (20 November 1886 – 3 October 1943;[1] born William J. Ring, also known by the pen name Coinneach)[1] was a civil servant and Irish-language writer and translator, best known for "Amhrán na bhFiann", a translation of "The Soldier's Song", the Irish national anthem, which has largely eclipsed Peadar Kearney's English-language original.[1][2][3][4][5]
He did not write many original works, but the integrity of his critical opinion was unequalled; unswayed by consensus, applying his own reflection, examination, and judgment to every question relating to promoting Irish or to literature in Irish.
Art Ó Maolfhábhail noted his influence in writing about the modern urban world, including coining many new terms.[7]
Although Ruth Sherry says Ó Rinn's translation of "The Soldiers' Song" was first published in An tÓglach (the magazine of the Irish Defence Forces) on 3 November 1923,[3] an almost identical text was printed in the Freeman's Journal on 3 April 1923, under Ó Rinn's pen name "Coinneach".[8] Other translations had already been made into literary Classical Irish, whereas Ó Rinn favoured the living vernacular spoken in Gaeltacht areas.[8] The Gaelic Athletic Association adopted Ó Rinn's version in the 1930s to be sung before all its matches, and it gradually eclipsed the English-language version in general use.[3] Although the Irish version was never formally adopted by the state,[3][9] both the English and Irish texts appear in Facts about Ireland, published by the Department of Foreign Affairs,[3][10] and on the official website of the Department of the Taoiseach.[11]
Works
Translations into Irish
The Books of the Polish People and of the Polish Pilgrimage by Adam Mickiewicz[o 1]
^Sherry, Ruth (1998). "The Uses of the National Anthem". In Westarp, Karl-Heinz; Böss, Michael (eds.). Ireland: Towards New Identities?. Aarhus University Press. ISBN87-7288-380-4.
^Ó Maolfhábhail 1953 p.25 ("Níor scríobh sé aon radhaise de leabhair nua-ceaptha, ach ní raibh a shárú de mheasadóir mhisniúil, nár ghéill do ghnath-thuairimi ach do dhein a mhachnamh, a scrúdú agus a bhreithniú féin ar gach ceist a bhaineann le hobair na Gaeilge agus le litríocht na Gaeilge.")
