Introduction
Monsignor Brendan Devlin MA, DD (Irish: Breandán Ó Doibhlin) (born 1931) is a priest of the Derry Diocese. He was born in Rouskey, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He was educated in St Columb's College, Derry, St Patrick's College, Maynooth, and the Pontifical Irish College in Rome.
In 1958, he became professor of modern languages at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, a position he held until he retired in 1996. On 2 September 2013 he was the principal celebrantat the funeral of the poet Seamus Heaney.
Biography
Devlin is an accomplished polyglot and popular teacher who is particularly known for his work in French and in Irish. For many years, he was rector of the Irish College in Paris and has also published three novels in Irish: Néal Maidine agus Tine Oíche (1964), An Branar gan Cur (1979) and Sliocht ar Thír na Scáth (2018).He has also published translations from French into Irish by La Fontaine, Pascal and Saint-Euxperry.He translated several books of the Bible into Irish.
In 2001, Devlin was invested as an Officer of the Légion d'honneur, the highest French award available to a foreign national.