1856 - 1915
Irish monk of Myanmar
room Ireland
people King Thibaw U Dhammaloka
There is a the long and colourful history of relations between Myanmar and Ireland and the many Irish men and women that have played a role in Burmese affairs. Perhaps one of the most unusual was U Dhammaloka (whose original name is unknown for certain). Born to a poor family in Dublin in 1856, he migrated to the United States, made his way on the first trains, then travelled by steamship to Japan and finally ended up in Rangoon just before the overthrow of King Thibaw in Mandalay. In Burma, he became strangely attracted to Buddhism and during the 1890s became one of the very first Westerners to be ordained into the Sangha.
U Dhammaloka went on to become famous throughout Burma and then Asia as a preacher, anti-colonial activist (he was charged by the British authorities with sedition) and an impassioned campaigner against Christian missionaries. He travelled to Siam, Singapore, Ceylon and Australi, but Rangoon was his home for decades. Around 1915, he mysteriously disappeared and his fate remains unknown to this day.
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