‘Tá m’athair ar slí na fírinne. I measc uaisle na nGael go raibh sé’
Pádraig Ó Snodaigh on the campaign trail with his son Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD

‘Tá m’athair ar slí na fírinne. I measc uaisle na nGael go raibh sé’

TRIBUTES were made this week for Irish language publisher, writer and activist Pádraig Ó Snodaigh, father of Dublin South Central TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh.

Pádraig passed away at his home in Howth on January 2. Sharing a photo while out canvassing with his ‘hero’ father on his X account, Sinn Féin Deputy O’Snodaigh said “Tá m’athair ar slí na fírinne.

“I measc uaisle na nGael go raibh sé.”

Pádraig Ó Snodaigh, a major figure in the language movement, spent decades campaigning for language rights while working for the ESB and the National Museum.

He served as President of Conradh na Gaeilge in the 1970s, where he set up the Conradh’s bookshop.

From 1970 to 1973, he was co-editor, with Mícheál Ó Bréartún, of Pobal, the Irish language current affairs magazine.

Later that decade he became editor of Carn, the official magazine of the Celtic League, Mourners at a funeral service on Monday in Baldoyle heard how Mr Ó Snodaigh borrowed £1,000 from a friend in 1980 to establish the pioneering Irish language imprint Coiscéim, going on to publish some 1,777 books.

President Michael D Higgins, who attended Mr Ó Snodaigh’s wake on Sunday, was among those who paid tribute.

“A man of immense dedication and a major figure of the Irish language movement, Pádraig Ó Snodaigh’s life was marked by such a strong and lifelong commitment to the promotion and preservation of our native language, for its use, its literature, and above all its place in the daily life of our people.

“His numerous contributions and his longstanding work inspired countless others to cherish and embrace the language that is central to our shared cultural heritage,” said President Higgins.

Predeceased by his wife Cliodhna Cussen, who passed in 2022 and was herself a sculptor, artist, writer, teacher, and historian, Mr Ó Snodaigh is survived by sons Fergus, Aengus, Colm, Cormac, Rónán and Rossa.

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