Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974) Monsignor P?draig de Br?n (1889-196) Pastel, 38 x 28cm, (15.5 x 12'') Signed Provenance: From the collection of Mr & Mrs S?an McEntee and their sale in these rooms...

Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974) Monsignor P?draig de Br?n (1889-196) Pastel, 38 x 28cm, (15.5 x 12'') Signed Provenance: From the collection of Mr & Mrs S?an McEntee and their sale in these rooms 19th July 1984, where purchased by present owner. Monsignor de Br?n was Mair?ad McEntee's brother. Monsignor P?draig de Br?n was an Irish clergyman, mathematician and classical scholar who served as President of University College Galway. De Br?n was born at Grangemockler, Co Tipperary, in 1886, the son of a primary school teacher. He was educated locally at Rockwell College, Cashel and at Holy Cross College, Clonliffe, Dublin. He was awarded an M.A. degree by the National University of Ireland and won a travelling scholarship in mathematics and mathematical physics, enabling him to pursue further studies in Paris. He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood at the Irish College in Paris in 1913 and took his D.Sc. from the Sorbonne for a thesis in mathematics. After a period at the University of Gottingen, de Br?n was appointed Professor of Mathematics at St Patrick's College, Maynooth in 1914. In April 1945 he was elected by the Senate of the National University of Ireland to succeed Mgr. John Hynes as President of University College Galway, an office he held until his death in 1960. He also served as Chairman of the Council of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. De Br?n was a prolific writer of poetry, including the well-known poem in the Irish language 'Th?naig Long ? Valparaiso'. He translated into Irish many classical works including Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Sophocles' Antigone and Oedipus Rex and Plutarch's Lives as well as Dante's The Divine Comedy. The French Government awarded Mgr. de Br?n the title of Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1949 and in 1956 he was conferred with the order 'Al Merito della Republica Italiana' by the President of Italy. He was created a domestic prelate by the Pope in 1950. Mgr. de Br?n died in Dublin on 5th June 1960. His brother was Cardinal Michael Browne. His sister, Mair?ad, married the Irish revolutionary Se?n McEntee and their daughter is the noted Irish scholar M?ire Mhac an tSaoi.

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