Pictured on the left in Ballingeary, 1912
(Credit: Barra Ó Suibhne)
(Colourised: Matt Loughrey, 2020)

Shán Ó Cuív (1875-1940). Born John Michael O’Keefe in Macroom, Co. Cork, Ó Cuív was both a writer and journalist, and was heavily involved in the Gaelic League.

In August 1903, he moved the motion at Feis na Mumhan in Cork that an Irish college be founded in Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh/Ballingeary to train teachers in the teaching of Irish. The result was Coláiste Múinteoireachta na Mumhan, commonly known as Coláiste na Mumhan, which opened its doors in 1904.

He believed that the traditional orthography (spelling system) of the language was a hindrance to people learning Irish. In around 1907, he and friends including Osborn Bergin and Fr Dr Richard Ó Dalaigh/O’Daly, began to devise a simplified spelling for Irish, and this controversial movement gained momentum with the founding of An Cuman um Letiriú Shímplí in 1910.

Foinse/source: Ainm.ie [ar líne/online]: https://www.ainm.ie/Bio.aspx?ID=193 (ceadaithe/accessed 21/10/2020).

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