Myles Patrick Dillon (11 April 1900 – 18 June 1972) was an Irish scholar whose primary interests were comparative philology, Celtic studies, and Sanskrit.
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Early life
Myles Dillon was born in Dublin on 11 April 1900, one of six children of John and Elizabeth Dillon. James Dillon, the leader of Fine Gael, was his younger brother.
Academic career
Myles Dillon graduated from University College Dublin, and then travelled to Germany and France, where he studied in deep Old Irish and Celtic philology under Joseph Vendryes and Rudolf Thurneysen. Dillon taught Sanskrit and comparative philology in Trinity College Dublin (1928–1930) and University College, Dublin (1930–1937). In 1937 he moved to the US, where he taught Irish in the University of Wisconsin (his son John M. Dillon was born in Madison), in 1946–1947 taught in Chicago. On his return to Ireland, he worked in the School of Celtic Studies in Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies; was the director of the School from 1960 till 1968, edited Celtica. Volume 11 of Celtica is dedicated to his memory. From 1966 to 1967 he was President of the Royal Irish Academy.