De Paor, Liam (1926–98), archaeologist, historian, and academic, was born 13 April 1926 in Dublin, son of Paul Power of Tramore, Co. Waterford, and Kathleen Power (née Burke) of Dublin. His father was a railway official and de Paor grew up in Drumcondra, Dublin, where he attended the local national school. He later received his secondary education at Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin. Winning a scholarship to university, he began to study architecture at UCD but abandoned his studies in 1945 to work for a time as a cartoonist at the Harry Clarke (qv) stained glass studios. Working as an architectural assistant (1950–56) in the National Monuments Branch of the Office of Public Works, he became involved in the survey and conservation of national monuments and in particular the ancient monuments of Skellig Michael and the Cistercian abbey of Mellifont, Co. Louth. His survey of the monastery of Skellig remained for some time the most influential modern account on the site. His Mellifont work concerned the presentation of the monument as well as the excavation of the monastic church.
Devoted to archaeology, he completed a bachelor's degree in Celtic studies (archaeology and early Irish history) (BA 1955) in his spare time and submitted a thesis for the award of an MA on romanesque architecture in Ireland, for which he was awarded a travelling studentship. He taught archaeology at UCD between 1958 and 1961. He served briefly as executive secretary of the RIA (1961–2) and spent a year as a UNESCO advisor in Nepal, advising on the conservation of cultural properties. On his return from Nepal he was appointed college lecturer in history at UCD (1965), where he became a statutory lecturer in 1976, and taught until his retirement in 1986.
He married (September 1955) Maura McDermott (Máire de Paor (qv)); they had four sons and a daughter. Together they wrote Early Christian Ireland (first published in 1958), a ground-breaking book both in its scholarly approach and its superb writing for a popular audience. It is as a writer that de Paor is best remembered, and his clear elegant style enabled him to move with great facility from strictly scholarly topics written for an academic audience to books of much wider appeal. His themes ran the gamut from archaeology, art history, and early medieval history to reflections on Europe ancient and modern, modern Irish history, and political commentary. He wrote a highly regarded column (‘Roots’) in the Irish Times, mostly on matters to do with history, archaeology, and heritage affairs and also occasionally cultural policy and management issues. Many of these essays were published in collected form.
A distinguished and effective broadcaster, de Paor was, paradoxically, an essentially shy man. A fine teacher, he held in addition to his post at UCD a number of visiting professorships at American universities. He enjoyed a highly productive period in the last fifteen years of his life, with original books such as St Patrick's world (1993) and collections of essays such as Ireland and early Europe (1997). An elegant deconstruction of the proclamation of 1916, entitled On the Easter proclamation and other declarations, was published in 1997 and he was present at the launch of his final book a few weeks before his death in 1998. That volume, Landscapes with figures, is a collection of essays of characteristic brilliance. After his retirement from UCD, he obtained support from the government to work on the publication of his major excavations at Inis Cealtra, Lough Derg, Co. Clare, and at Tihilly, Co. Offaly, and Ardagh, Co. Longford. He was making steady progress on these and on an autobiography, sadly unfinished, at the time of his death on 13 August 1998. He was survived by his second wife, Deirdre Glenn, by their son, and by the children of his first marriage.
His writing, always elegant and thoughtful, will stand the test of time. His gifts for effective synthesis and for popularisation have assured him a place amongst the very best of writers on the Irish heritage of archaeology and history. His particular talent for, and qualifications in, archaeology fitted him to make a major contribution as a teacher to the development of that discipline in Ireland. It is a matter of regret that he was unable to continue in his archaeological post in UCD to help build that department. He had strong libertarian principles and a profound but not strident commitment to social equality. The Troubles in Northern Ireland affected him very deeply, and in addition to writing on the topic he worked hard at conferences, workshops, and occasional discreet meetings on intercommunal understanding to promote non-violent resolution of political difference; his Divided Ulster (1971) is well worth reading. His desire to help in this as in other areas is perhaps less well known because of his innate shyness, modesty, and willingness to work in a low-key manner behind the scenes.
More information on this entry is available at the National Database of Irish-language biographies (Ainm.ie).