Séamas Ó Maolchataigh was born in the south of County Tipperary in 1884. His father worked as a gamekeeper for a local landowner; his mother, Margaret Burke, was from the same area. Séamas Ó Maolchataigh had a keen interest in folklore and place names throughout his life, and was considered an expert on the Irish dialect of the region. Publishing his work proved difficult, however. He was not satisfied with the publication of his main work An Glenn agus a Raibh Ann (the original Irish title) when it finally appeared, heavily edited, in 1963.