Cleaver, Euseby Digby (1826–94), clergyman and Gaelic revivalist, was born 8 March 1826 in Delgany, Co. Wicklow, eldest son of William Cleaver, rector of Delgany, and Mary (née Mackworth) Cleaver, and grandson of Euseby Cleaver (qv) (archbishop of Dublin 1809–19). Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, his father's and grandfather's college (Bachelor of Arts (1849), Master of Arts (1857)), he was ordained priest in 1855. Though serving most of his ministry in England and Wales, he kept in close touch with the movement for reviving the Irish language, his interest in Irish being thought to date from youthful holidays in Co. Roscommon. He was a member of the Society for the Preservation of Irish (publisher of cheap booklets for teaching Irish), the Gaelic Union (its offshoot, and publisher of the monthly Gaelic Journal), and, in due course, the Gaelic League, of which he was chosen vice-president in 1893; he was also a founder member of the Ossianic Society (1853), which was responsible for the publication of editions of Irish texts. His interest was not simply academic, for he argued strenuously for the teaching of Irish in Gaeltacht schools and its place as an intermediate examination subject. He was instrumental in the publication of a new edition of Fr Nolan's translation of a book of prayers, endowed prizes for national teachers who showed proficiency in teaching the language, and gave financial support to the first Irish-language publication of Douglas Hyde (qv), himself the son of a Co. Roscommon rector. Cleaver was rector of Langdon Hills, Essex (1875–86), and died at Llantellyd, Wales, 26 November 1894. He married (1863) Julia Helen Sewell; they had two sons.
More information on this entry is available at the National Database of Irish-language biographies (Ainm.ie).