Liam de Róiste (1882-1959). Born in Fountainstown, Co. Cork to Edward and Eliza Roche, both schoolteachers, de Róiste learned Irish from a young age.
He was a leading figure economically and culturally in Cork, joining the Gaelic League when the Cork branch opened and becoming its secretary in 1902.
He became secretary of Coláiste Múinteoireachta na Mumhan, Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh/Ballingeary when it was founded in 1904 and remained secretary until 1936. His diaries and other documents left by him offer a vivid description of how the Coláiste was set up and its early years. He paints appealing portraits of many of the significant people who spent time in Ballingeary.
He was one of the organisers for the meeting at which the Cork branch of the Volunteers was formed, attended by Eoin Mac Neill and Roger Casement; he joined the organisation and was involved in the events of the Easter Rising, though he was a non-violent man at heart.
He was elected to the first Dáil in 1918. He stepped away from national politics soon after the Civil War. He is remembered as a significant politician, writer and scholar of the period.
Foinse/source: Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography (Cambridge: CUP) [ar líne/online]: https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a2470&searchClicked=clicked&searchBy=&browsesearch=yes (ceadaithe/accessed 30/10/2020).
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