As Casla i gConamara dó ó dhúchas, oideachasóir ab ea Liam, ina mhúinteoir bunscoile ar dtús agus ina stiúrthóir ar Theanglann UCD ó 1979 go 1996. Iriseoir agus craoltóir ab ea é leis, ag obair i seomra nuachta RTÉ ó na 1960í agus ag léamh na nuachta ar an stáisiún. Ina dhiaidh sin bhí sé ina chathaoirleach le fada ar an gclár teanga Leagan Cainte ar Raidió na Gaeltachta. I measc na bhfoilseachán a scríobh sé nó a d’aistrigh sé bhí go háirithe leabhair a bhain le saol, tíreolaíocht agus cultúr Chonamara.

Bhí suim ar leith aige san amhránaíocht ar an sean-nós, é féin ina amhránaí cumasach agus é i gcónaí ag cur daoine eile ag gabháil fhoinn, go minic ag an Oireachtas, féile a raibh se ina uachtarán uirthi i 2009. Bhí sé ina bhall den choiste a chuir an fhéile cheannródaíoch Sean-Nós Cois Life ar siúl i 1992, agus bronnadh Gradam na heagraíochta sin air i 2015. Ceann dá mhór-shaothair ab ea beathaisnéis amhránaí ar an sean-nós – Seosamh Ó hÉanaí: Nár Fhágha Mé Bás Choíche (2009) – agus scríobh sé aistí tagartha go leor don chnuasach Leabhar Mór na nAmhrán (2013). Chaith Liam dhá thréimhse ar Bhord na Taisce, 1995–1997 agus 2000–2002.

A native of Casla, Conamara, Liam was an educationalist, a primary teacher at first and the director of the Teanglann language laboratory in University College Dublin from 1979 to 1996. He was also a journalist and broadcaster, working from the 1960s in the newsroom of RTÉ and reading the news on the station. He was later chair of the long-running language programme Leagan Cainte on Raidió na Gaeltachta. Among the publications he authored or translated were especially books on the life, geography and culture of Conamara.

Liam had a particular interest in traditional singing in Irish. A fine singer himself, he constantly encouraged other singers, often at the Oireachtas, the national cultural festival of which he was president in 2015. He was a member of the committee which founded the pioneering Dublin singing festival Sean-Nós Cois Life in 1992, and was awarded its Gradam in 2015. One of his main publications was the biography of a traditional singer – Seosamh Ó hÉanaí: Nár Fhágha Mé Bás Choíche (2009) – and he was a major contributor to the song anthology Leabhar Mór na nAmhrán (2013). He spent two periods on the Bord of the Archive, 1995–1997 and 2000–2002.

WRITTEN BY Nicholas Carolan, 10 May 2019