Breandán Ó Madagáin

Breandán Ó Madagáin (1932 – 9 January 2020[1]) was an Irish scholar, writer and celticist. He was Professor Emeritus and past Chair of Department of Irish, University College Galway, a member of the Royal Irish Academy,[2] and was Chairman, 1995–2005, of the Board of Celtic Studies in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Breandán Ó Madagáin was born in Limerick. His main contributions to Irish scholarship related to the history of Traditional Irish Song, also known as Sean-nós song. He inaugurated courses in the history of Irish song at University College Galway, unique in their kind. He is well known for the thesis that the bulk of Irish Bardic Poetry was sung, and that many of the original melodies have been passed down through the oral tradition, although not always with their original lyrics.