346
AN GAODHAL.
O'Curry's Lectures.
ON THE
MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL OF ANCIENT IRISH HIS¬
TORY.
(Continued from p. 288)
LCTUR V III.
[Delivered July 7, 1856.]
It contains an ample record of those traditions o.
the sucessive early colonizations of Ireland
which, in the most ancient times, appeared to be
regarded as true history, but which were not in¬
serted at length in the Annals of Donegall. Upon
the authenticity of these traditions, or ancient re¬
cords) if, indeed, they have come down to us in
the form in which they really were believed two
thousand years ago), this is not the place to enter
any discussion. The object of the O'Clery’s ap¬
pears, however to have been to collect and put in
order the statements they found in the ancient
books, and, as before, I shall let the Preface and
Address of the author of the "Book of Invasions"
explain that object in his own words.
The following is his Dedication, prefixed to his
Leabhr Gabhala. —
"I, the friar Michael O'Clery, have, by permis¬
sion of my superiors, undertaken to purge of er¬
ror, rectify, and transcribe this old Chronicle call¬
ed the Leabhar Gabhala, that it may be to the
glory of God, to the honor of the saints and the
kingdom of Erinn, and to the welfare of my own
soul. This undertaking I could not accomplish
without the assistance of other chroniclers at
some fixed abode. Upon communicating my in¬
tention to thee, O! Brian Roe Maguire, Lord of
Enniskillen [Inis Cethlonn], tha first of the race
of Odhar who received that title (which thou didst
from his Majesty Charles, King of England, Scot¬
land, France, and Ireland, on the 21st of January
in the year of our Lord Christ 1627, and the third
year of the king's reign), thou didst take in hand
to assist me to commence and conclude my under
taking, because thou didst deem it a pity to leave
in oblivion and unencouraged a work which would
exalt the honour of your own ancestors, as well
as of the saints, nobles, and history of Erinn in
general. After having, then, received thine assis¬
tance, I myself, and chroniclrs whom, by the per¬
mission of the Church, I selected as assistants,
viz., Fearfeasa O'Mulconry, Cucoigry O'Clery,
Cucoigry O'Duigenan, and thine own chief chron¬
icler, Gillpatrick O'Luinin, went, a fortnight be¬
fore Allhallow-tide, to the covent of Lisgoole, in
the diocese of Clogher, in Fermanagh, and we re¬
mained there together until the following Christ¬
mas, by which time we had succeeded in comple¬
ting our undertaking, with thy assistance, Lord
Maguire.
"On the 22nd day of October, the correction
and completion of this Book of Invasions were
commenced, and on the 22nd of December the
transcription was completed in the convent of the
friars aforesaid, in the sixth year of the reign of
King Charles over England, France, Scotland, and
Ireland, and in the year of our Lord 1631.
"Thine affectionate friend, Brother Michael O'¬
Clery."
The preface, or Address to the Reader follows:
"It appeared to certain of the people, and to
me the poor simple friar Michael O'Clery from
Tirconnell, one of the native friars of the convent
of Donegal, whose inheritence it is from my an-
cestors to be a chronicler, that it would be a cha¬
rity for some one of the men of Erinn to purify,
compile, and re-write the ancient honored Chron¬
icle which is called the Book of Invasions, for
these reasons. The first reason, — My superiors
having charge me to collect the Lives and Genea¬
logies of the Saints of Erinn from all places in
which I could find them throughout Erinn, after
having done this, I selected associate chroniclers
to adjust, purify, and write as much as I could
find of this history of the saints, as well as the
succession of the monarch of Erinn, to whom the
pedigrees of the saints are carried up, as may be
seen in the book in which they are written. After
that it occurred to me that the work of which I
have spoken was incomplete without correcting
and writing the Book of Invasions already men¬
tioned, because it is the original fountain of the
saints and kings of Erinn, of her nobles and her
people.
"Another reason too: I was aware that men,
learned in Latin and in English, had commenced
to translate this Chronicle of Erinn from the Gae¬
dhlic into these languages that we have spoken
of, and that they had not so profound a knowledge
of the Gaedhlic as that they could put the hard
and the soft parts of the said together without ig¬
norance or error; and I felt that the translation
which they would make must (for want of a know¬
ledge of the Gaedhlic) become an eternal reproach
and disgrace to all Erinn, and particularly so to
her chroniclers. It was for these reasons that I
undertook, with the permission of my superiors,
to purify and compile this book, and to collect for
it, from other books, all that was wanting to it in
history and in other learning, as much as we could
according to the space of time which we had to
write it.
"The chroniclers who were with us for this pur¬
pose, and for purifying the book, were, Fearfeasa
O'Mulconry, from th County of Roscommon: Cu¬
coigry O'Clery, from Bally Clery, in the County
of Donegall; Cucoigry O'Duigenan, from Bally
Coilltifoghair, County of Leitrim; and Giollapa¬
trick O'Luinin, from Ard Ui Luinin, in the Coun¬
ty of Fermanagh.
"It is right that you should know that it was
ancient writers of remote times, and commemo¬
rating elders of great age, that preserved the his¬
tory of Erinn in chronicles and books in success¬
ion, from the period of the Deluge to the time of
St. Patrick, who came in the fourth year of the
reign of Laeghaire mac Neill, monarch of Erinn,
to plant religion and devotion in her, when he
blesse Erinn, men and boys, women and girls,
and built numerous churches and towns through¬
out the land.
"Saint Patrick, after all this, invited unto him
the most illustrios author of Erinn at that period
to preserve the chronicles, synchronisms, and ge¬
nealogies that had taken possession of Erinn down
to that period. Those that he invited unto him,
at that time, were Ros; Dubhthach, the son of Ua
Lughair; Ferghus, etc. These were the sustain¬
ing pillars of the History of Erinn, in the time of
Saint Patrick.
"Saint Colum Cille, St. Finnen of Cluain Ior¬
ard [Clonard], and St. Cogmall, of Beannchuir
[Bangor, in the County Down], and the other
