Robert O'Dwyer

Robert O’Dwyer (in Irish: Riobárd Ó Duibhir) (27 January 1862 – 6 January 1949) was an Irish composer mainly known for having written one of the first operas in the Irish language. Biography Robert O’Dwyer was born to Irish parents in Bristol, England, where he received private musical education and acted as a chorister and assistant organist during the years 1872 to 1891. O’Dwyer’s interest in opera manifested itself initially by becoming the conductor of a local amateur opera company in 1889, before he became a conductor of the Carl Rosa Opera Society (1891–97) and the Arthur Rousby Opera Company (1892–96), with which he undertook tours throughout the British Isles. After one such tour he settled in Dublin in 1897, where he held various positions as organist in the counties of Dublin and Wicklow. From 1899 he taught music at the Royal University of Ireland and from 1901 conducted the choir of the Gaelic League, for which he wrote numerous arrangements of Irish traditional music and Sean nos songs. He also wrote articles and concert reviews for The Leader, which became an outlet for his increasingly nationalist views. O’Dwyer completed his major composition, the three-act opera Ei