Irish Scholar

Instead of heeding the song "Come Back to Ireland," John V. Kelleher '39, whose love of things Irish goes back as far as his recollections, has chosen to bring Eire to his own country. Recently named Associate Professor of Modern Irish History and Literature at Harvard, Professor Kelleher will instruct in a field of scholarship which he has been largely instrumental in creating. The appointment making him a permanent member of the Harvard faculty was brought about by an anonymous gift to the university which makes possible the establishment of these courses on a lasting basis.

Born in Lawrence, Mass., of Ameri-can-born Irish parents, Professor Kelleher began to study Gaelic in his early teens with a priest. Upon graduation from Dartmouth, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Senior Fellow, he won a Junior Fellowship at Harvard. In 1943 he was chosen by the Lowell Institute to speak in the famous Lowell lecture series on "Irish Literature Since the Revolution." Among well known predecessors in this series were Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Adams, William James, and Dartmouth's President Tucker.

In 1947 Professor Kelleher joined the Harvard faculty as Assistant Professor of Modern Irish History and Literature. He has studied in Ireland and lectured at the National University of Ireland. He is the author of several articles, which have appeared in The AtlanticMonthly and other magazines. At present he is working on a book entitled Irish Literature: Present Phase.

JOHN V. KEUEHER '39