T. F. O'Rahilly

Thomas Francis O'Rahilly
Born	1883 Listowel
Died	1953 Dublin
Nationality	Irish
Fields	linguistics, Celtic studies
Known for	work in Goidelic phonology, historical linguistics

Thomas Francis O'Rahilly (Irish: Tomás Proinsias Ó Rathaile; 1883–1953) was an Irish scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly in the fields of Historical linguistics and Irish dialects. He was a member of the Royal Irish Academy and died in Dublin in 1953. He is the creator of the O'Rahilly's historical model which has a mixed legacy.

He was born in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland. Educated at the Royal University of Ireland, he held professorships in Irish at Trinity College, Dublin (1919-1929), and in Celtic languages at University College, Cork (1929-1935), and University College, Dublin (1935-1941). He was director of the School of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies from 1942 to 1947.

O'Rahilly was known for his sometimes controversial theories of Irish history. In his book Early Irish history and mythology, first published in 1946, O'Rahilly developed a model of Irish prehistory based on critical reading of early Irish literary sources, involving four waves of Celtic-speaking invaders (see Early history of Ireland). In a lecture published in 1942 he proposed that there were two Saint Patricks.

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