834
AN GAOḊAL.
O'Curry's Lectures.
ON THE
MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL OF ANCIENT IRISH HIS¬
TORY.
Lecture 1.
(Cntinued)
Such, then, is a brief glance at what constituted
probably but a few of the books and records of
Erinn which, we are sure must have existed, with
perhaps there or four exceptions, anterior to the
year, and of which there are now no fragments
known to me to remain, though some of them are
referred to in works of comparatively modern date.
The Rev. Geoffry Keating (P. P. of Tubrid near
Clonmel) compiled, about the year 1630, from sev¬
eral ancient MSS. then accessible, a history of Erinn
from its earliest ascribed colonization, downto the
Anglo-Norman Invasion in the year 1170. This
Book is written in the modified Gaedhlic of Keat¬
ing's own time; and although he has used but
little discrimination in his selections from old re¬
cords, and has almost entirely neglected any criti¬
cal examination of his authorities, still his book is
a valuable one, and not at all, in my opinion, the
despicable production that it is often ignorantly
said to be.
Some of the lost works that I have mentioned
are spoken of, and even quoted by this writer. He
refers to the following books as being extant in
own time: the Book of Armagh (but evidently not
the book now known under this name), the Saltair
of Cashel, the Book of the Uachonghbhail, the Book
of Cluain Eidhneach (in Leix), the Saltair na Rann
(written by Aengus Ceile De), the Book of Glenn
da Locha, the Leabhar, a h-Uidhre, which was
written originally at Cluain Mic Nois, or Clonmac¬
noise, in St. Cieran's time the Yellew Book of St.
Moling, the Black Book of St. Molga, the Red
Book of Mac Aegan.
Of this list of Books, all of which were certainly
extant in 1630, we now know only the Saltair na
Rann, which still exists in the Bodleian Library at
Oxford.
Prefixed to the Leabhar Gabhala, or Book of
Invasions, compiled by the O'Clerys in 1630 or
1631, there is a list of the ancient books from which
that compilation was made. They were the foll¬
owing — The Book of Baile ui Mhaoilchonaire, or
Bally Mulconroy, which had been copied by Mau¬
rice, O'Maelchonaire, or O'Mulconroy (who died in
1543), out of the Leabhar na h-Uidhre, which had
been written at Cluain Mic Nois (Clonmacnoise),
in the time of St. Ciaran, the Book of Buaile ui
Chleirigh, or Bally Clery, which was written in
the time of Maelsechlainn Mor, or Malachy the
Great, son of Domhall, monarch of Erinn (who
began his reign A. D. 979), the Book of Muintir
Duibhghenainn, or of the O'Duigenane of Seanch¬
uach in Tir Oililla, or Tirerrill, in the Co. of Sligo,
and which was called the Leabhar na h-Uachong¬
bhala, or the Book of the Uachongbail, with many
other histories or historical books besides.
Of this list of Books not one is known to me to
be now extant.
The ever to be remembered Michael O'Clery, and
his fellow-laborers (who together with him are
simliar I known as the Four Masters), insert in
their Annals a list of the ancient books from which
that noble work was compiled. They were the
following — The Book of Cluain Mic Nois, the
Book of the Island of the Saints in Loch Ribh (or
Loch Ree), in the Shannon, the Book of Seanadh
Mhic Maghnusa, in Loch Eirne, the Book of
Muintir Mhaoilchonaire, or the O'Mulconroys, the
Book of Muintir Duibhghenann, or of the O'Duig¬
enans, of Cill Ronain, and the Historical Book of
Lecain Mic Fhirbhisigh, or Lecan Mac Firbis. The
Books of Cluain Mic Nois and of the Island of the
Saint come down to the year 1225. The Book of
the O'Mulconroys came down to the year 1505. The
Book of the O'Duigenans contained entries extend¬
ing only from the year 900 to the year 1563. The
Annals of Seanadh Mic Maghnusa (now called the
Annals of Ulster) came down to the year 1632. The
Four Masters had also a fragment of Cucoigriche
(a name sometimes Englished Peregrine), O'Clery's
Book, containing Annals from the year 1231 to 1537
The Book of Maoilin og Mac Bruaideadha, or Ma¬
oilin the younger Mac Brody, of Thomond, con¬
taining Annals from the year 1588 to 1602, was al¬
so in their possession, as well as Lughaidh O'¬
Clery’s Book containing Annals from the year 1586
to 1603. This last Book was probably that known
at the present day as the Life of Aedh Ruadh, or
Hugo Roe O'Donnell, which was written by the
same Lughaidh O'Clery, and from which the Four
Masters have evidently taken all the details given
in their Annals relating to the brave and unfortu¬
nate Prince.
Of this list of Books (with the exception of the
last mentioned) not one is known to me to be now
in existence excepting the Annals of Ulster, the
copy of Ludhaidh O'Clery’s Book made by his
son Cucogry, and the book which is now known as
the Book of Lecain, in the Royal Irish Academy,
but which at present contains nothing that could
be properly called Annals, though there are in it
some pages of occurrences with no dates attach¬
ed.
The language in which such a number of books
was written must have been highly cultivated, and
found fully adopted to the purposes of the histor¬
ian, the poet, the lawyer, the physician, and the
ecclesiastic, and extensively so used, else it may be
fairly assumed that Aengus Ceile De, Cormac Mac
Cullinan, Eochaidh O'Flannagan, Cuan O'Lochain,
Flann of St. Buithe's Monastery, and all the other
great Irish writers from the 7th to the 12th century,
who were so well acquainted with Latin, then the
universal medium, would not have employed the
Gaedhlic for their compositions.
Notwitstanding, however, the irreparable loss
of the before named books, there still exists an im¬
mense quantity of Gaedhlic writing of great purity
and of the highest value as regards the history of
this country. And these MSS. comprise general
and national history, civil and ecclesiastical re¬
cords and abundant materials of genealogy, besides
poetry, romance, law and medicine, and some frag¬
ments of tracts, on mathematics and astronomy.
The collection in Trinity College consists of over
140 volumes, several of them on vellum, dating
from the early part of the 12th down to middle of
the last century. There are also in this fine col¬
lection beautiful copies of the Gospels, known as
the Books of Kells, and Durrow, and Dimma's
Book, attributable to the 6th and 7th centuries,
the Saltair of St. Ricemarch, Bishop of St. David's
in the eleventh century, containing also an exquis¬
ite copy of the Roman Martyrology, and a very an¬
cient ante-Hieronymian version of the Gospels,
the history of which is unknown, but which is ev¬
idently an Irish MS. of not later than the ninth
century, also the Evangelirtarium of St. Moling,
