He attended primary school in Leitir Fhraoigh went to St. Joseph's in Galway and then to St Patrick's College, Dublin where he trained to become a teacher.
He helped establish Scoil Acla in Dooagh, a traditional Irish music summer school, which he also named.
In 1911 he got a job as a muinteoir taistil (a travelling teacher for Conradh na Gaeilge (the Gaelic League)) in Mayo.
A colleague of Douglas Hyde, he became an organiser for the Galway Gaelic League and spread its influence in the west of Ireland in the early 20th century.
He was the father of Padraic O Raghallaigh, first Ceannaire of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, the Irish-language radio station.