Teacher and champion of Ulster Irish

Seán Ó Labhra, also known in the English form of his name as Seán Lavery, who has died aged 83, was one of the last of a generation who kept the Irish language alive in the North in difficult times prior to the revival of more recent years.

For many years he was first a teacher in, then head of, St Peter's Secondary School in Belfast, which served the Lower Falls area. Ó Labhra did his best to protect the school from the upheavals around it during the Troubles. Inevitably, however, many pupils and former pupils were caught up in the events of the times, the most notable being Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four.

On the other side of Ulster he was for 40 years president of Coláiste Bhríde, Rann na Feirste, Donegal’s most prestigious Irish summer college, where he specialised in teaching music.

For many years he was president of Comhaltas Uladh, the Ulster section of the Gaelic League. As such, he emphasised scholarships to the Donegal Gaeltacht, encouraging schools to enter their pupils, and defending Ulster Irish.

He was also active in developing education, serving on several education committees. Personally, he was a man of deep and traditional religious faith.

Seán Ó Labhra was born John Lavery on Belfast’s Falls Road in May 1932, one of 10 children and youngest son to James Henry Lavery and his wife Mary Teresa (née Hanna).

His father was a foreman in a brass foundry, originally from the eastern shore of Lough Neagh. He developed a lung disease due to his work and died young.

Flourished academically

Ó Labhra was an able student who flourished academically despite the family’s straitened circumstances. At St Mary’s Christian Brothers’ Grammar School he began his lifelong interest in Irish, going on to a degree in Celtic Studies from Queen’s University before becoming a teacher.

Not all his teaching was conventional. For a while he was a primary teacher for a school that had not yet been built, so he took his classes underneath the stands at Casement Park GAA ground.

Seán Ó Labhra is survived by his widow, Patsy, daughters Bronagh, Fionnuala and Niamh, and sister Kathleen. He was predeceased by his son Ronan.