Lillis Ó Laoire
Genres: Academic writer
Rugadh agus tógadh Liam Lillis Ó Laoire i nGaeltacht Thír Chonaill. Bhain sé BA amach sa Ghaeilge agus sa Laidin, Dioplóma Iarchéime san Oideachas agus MA sa Nua-Ghaeilge ó Choláiste na hOllscoile, Gaillimh. Bhí sé ag foilsiú ó dheireadh na n-ochtóidí ar aghaidh, ailt ar na Griannaigh agus ar an amhránaíocht. Chláraigh sé do chéim Ph. D. i 1993 faoi stiúir Ghearóid Uí Chrualaoich i Roinn an Bhéaloidis agus na hEitneolaíochta, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh. As seo a d’eascair a shaothar ar an amhránaíocht i dToraigh, a d’fhoilsigh Cló Iar-Chonnacht mar Ar Chreag i Lár na Farraige: Amhráin agus Amhránaithe i dToraigh in 2002. Bhuaigh a leabhar comhúdair (le Sean Williams) faoi Sheosamh Ó hÉanaí Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song Man (2011) duais idirnáisiúnta Alan P. Merriam don mhonagraf ab fhearr ar ábhar eitnicheoleolaíochta ag comhdháil an Society for Ethnomusicology sa bhliain 2012. Bhain lámhscríbhinn an leabhair Gradam Phiarais Bhéaslaí don saothar taighde is fearr ag Oireachtas na bliana 1999. Tá níos mó na leathchéad alt agus caibidil i leabhair foilsithe aige ar ábhair éagsúla i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla, agus béim faoi leith ar an amhrán mar léiriú cultúrtha aige i mórán dá chuid aistí. Tá súil aige eagrán de dhialanna goirt Sheáin Uí Eochaidh a fhoilsiú amach anseo i bpáirt le roinnt scoláirí eile.
A senior lecturer in Irish in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, he was Head of School from 2010–2014. A Donegal native and a graduate of NUI Galway and of University College Cork, Lillis taught for many years at Thomond College and the University of Limerick. He was also a visiting Professor in Modern Languages and English at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles from 2002–2005. He teaches courses in Folklore, Literature and Culture, including Ethnomusicology and on the MA in Modern Irish. He has published quite a lot on Gaelic song, most recently an award-winning, co-authored book (with Sean Williams) on the great Connemara singer, Joe Heaney. He directs the team that constructed the website www.joeheaney.org consisting of materials from the Joe Heaney archive. He has a particular interest in storytelling and religion in the past few years, as he teaches students of Celtic Civilization. He is currently researching the diaries of Seán Ó hEochaidh and is fascinated by the insight they provide on life in Donegal in the thirties and forties of the last century.