Ronan Coghlan is an Irish writer living in Bangor, County Down

Bangor, County Down

Bangor is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a seaside resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough and within the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Bangor Marina is one of the largest in Ireland, and holds Blue Flag status...

 in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

Coghlan was born Dublin in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

 (MA, Higher Diploma in Education).

Coghlan has worked as a schoolmaster in a large number of schools and is married with three children. He is a regular lecturer at The Weird Weekend

The Weird Weekend

The Weird Weekend is an annual conference hosted by the Centre for Fortean Zoology in rural North Devon. Founded in 2000, it is a fundraiser for the CFZ.-History:...

, an event under the aegis of the Centre for Fortean Zoology. He is known for his unorthodox views on education and his generally eccentric personality. His wide variety of interests include the paranormal, theology, biblical studies, onomastics, mythology, folklore, medieval legend and etymology. His best selling book has been "Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends" which sold 120,000 copies worldwide and has been translated into Japanese.

For a time he was the proprietor of Excalibur Books, a mail-order business.

In 2005 Coghlan founded a private publishing house under the name of Xiphos Books. The titles issued under this imprint are those which would probably not be commercially viable if issued by a mainstream publisher. They include a new edition of Jonathan Downes' book on UFOs, The Rising of the Moon.

He has contributed a number of entries to the Almanach de Bruxelles and he also supplied information for the second edition of Donald Tuck's Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

His works include:

• Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends (1991)
• Dictionary of Irish Myth and Legend (1979)
• Irish Christian Names (1979)
• Dictionary of Cryptozoology
  Cryptozoology
  Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...
  
  (2004)
• Handbook of Fairies (2002)
• Robin Hood Companion (2003)
• Cryptosup (2005).
• Sherlock Holmes and the Heir of Albion (2007)
• Further Cryptozoology (2007)
• Companion to Atlantis and Other Mystery Lands (2009)
• Mystery Animals of Ireland [with Gary Cunningham] (2010)

Sources

• Catalogues of National Library of Ireland; Library of Trinity College, Dublin; British Library; Library of Congress; Brigham Young University Library; Yale University Library; Waseda University Library; Minnesota University Library; Nottingham University Library; Harvard University Library; Princeton University Library; National Library of Iceland.
• Weird Weekend website.
• Centre for Fortean Zoology website.
• Fortean Times July, 2007.
• District Messenger (London Sherlock Holmes Society) No. 274.
• Almanach de Bruxelles sub Malawi, Madagascar, Namibia, United States, Mozambique, American Samoa, Brazil.
• There's Something in the Woods (Nick Redfern website)
• D. Tuck Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy Vol. II: Acknowledgements.