Hardiman, James (1782–1855)

Irish scholar, born in Westport, County Mayo. Hardiman grew up in Galway and temporarily studied for the priesthood. He was appointed librarian at Queen's College, Galway, in 1848. His most significant work is Irish Minstrelsy, or Bardic Remains of Ireland (2 volumes, 1831), an anthology of Irish poetry which uses source material from both Irish manuscript and oral traditions. The anthology, due to its size and scope, is testament to the long and distinguished history of Irish poetry, and disputes the labels of inferiority affixed by Anglo-Irish writers and chroniclers.