Mainchín Seoighe, who has died aged 85, was a local government official with a lifelong dedication to the history of his native west Limerick.
His first book, Maraíodh Seán Sabhat aréir (1964), was a biography of the IRA member from Limerick who, with Fergal O'Hanlon, was killed in the course of a gun attack on Brookeborough RUC barracks in 1957.
The book's distributor insisted that some "sensitive" material, including a poem by Críostóir Ó Floinn, should be deleted, and as a result two editions were published. Twenty-eight of the book's 199 pages were left blank in the edition distributed by An Club Leabhar, while Sáirséal agus Dill separately published the unexpurgated edition.
His other books include Cois Maighe na gCaor (1965), Portrait of Limerick (1982) and The Irish Quotation Book: a literary companion (1992).
He wrote articles for the Irish Press and all the Irish-language weeklies and monthlies. He also contributed to the Capuchin Annual, North Munster Studies and other journals, sometimes writing under the English form of his name, Mannix Joyce.
As "An Mangaire Súgach", in 1944 he began writing a weekly column for the Limerick Leader. The column, Odds and Ends, ran for 57 years.
Born in 1920 in Kilmallock, Co Limerick, he was the eldest child of John Joyce, a small farmer, and his wife Nora (née Deady). He developed an interest in history and the Irish language at an early age.
"I had a teacher called Donncha Horgan who was very keen on Irish, he was a native of the parish and he had taken part in the War of Independence. He was also a great promoter of local history," he once said.
When the Irish Press started publication, it included a weekly feature for children edited by Roddy the Rover (Aodh de Blacam). Prizes were offered for stories, poems and snippets of local history. Mainchín Seoighe was an early prizewinner.
"He [ de Blacam] gave me great encouragement and we began writing to each other. I even went up to his home in Blackrock in Dundalk to visit for a week. MJ McManus, the literary editor of the Irish Press, was also a big influence."
Having spent a year in Kilfinane technical school, he enrolled in Charleville CBS. At 17 he won a scholarship to Coláiste Uí Chomhraide in Carrigaholt, Co Clare. In later years he became a trustee of the college and was chairman of the management committee from 1997 to 2005.
In 1941 he began working for Limerick County Council, initially in the rates department and later as information officer. He retired in 1985.
He was active in Conradh na Gaeilge and Glór na nGael. He was the organising secretary of the Joyce Brothers School (Patrick Weston Joyce was a notable music collector and his brother Robert Dwyer Joyce a popular 19-century poet). He published The Joyce Brothers of Glenosheen in 1987.
He was a former chairman of Kilmallock Historical Society and member of the Thomond Archaeological Society.
In 1990 an honorary doctorate was conferred on him by the National University of Ireland, Galway. In 2001 he was presented with Gradam an Phiarsaigh, and in 2003 a room at the De Valera Museum in Bruree Heritage Centre was named in his honour.
The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuiv, gave a graveside oration at the funeral.
His wife Proinséas and sisters Máire and Eilín survive him.
Seán Mainchín Seoighe: born August 18th, 1920; died July 3rd, 2006