This paper reflects on
some issues of historiography, biography, race, class, identity, and
colonialism over a 50-year period in relation to two remarkable individuals
originally from Ireland who made Buddhism their religion and Asia their
home; Charles J W Pfoundes who came to Japan in 1863 and U Dhammaloka
who died probably in Bangkok in 1913. Both men, despite being well-known
in their time, bear the distinction of being almost completely omitted
from modern Asian and Western histories of modern Buddhism. They have
only recently been reintroduced into the historical narrative through
international research collaboration relying heavily on new digital
resources. In both cases, some remarkable new findings have emerged which
suggest a 'rewriting' of the conventional 20th-century account of the
development of modern global Buddhism.