Book of Leinster
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MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339), or the Book of Leinster (Irish Lebor Laignech), formerly known as the Book of Oughaval (Lebor na Nuachongbála), is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled ca. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin. It was previously kept at Oughaval for many generations.[1] Some fragments of the book, such as the Martyrology of Tallaght, are now in the collection of University College, Dublin.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Contents
The manuscript has 187 leaves, each approximately 13" by 9" (33 cm by 23 cm). A note in the manuscript suggests as many as 45 leaves have been lost. The book, a wide-ranging compilation, is one of the most important sources of medieval Irish literature, genealogy and mythology, containing, among many others, texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn (the Book of Invasions), the most complete version of Táin Bó Cuailnge (the Cattle Raid of Cooley), the Metrical Dindshenchas and an Irish translation/adaptation of the De excidio Troiae Historia, and before its separation from the main volume, the Martyrology of Tallaght.
A diplomatic edition was published by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in six volumes over a period of 29 years.
[edit] Date and provenance
The manuscript is a composite work and more than one hand appears to have been responsible for its production. The principal scribe and compiler was apparently Áed Ua Crimthainn, whose signature can be read on f. 32r (p. 313): Aed mac meic Crimthaind ro scrib in leborso 7 ra thinoil a llebraib imdaib ("Áed Húa Crimthaind wrote this book and collected it from many books").[3] In a letter copied by a later hand into a bottom margin (p. 288), the bishop of Kildare, Finn mac Gormáin, addresses him as a man of learning (fer léiginn) of the high-king of Leth Moga, the coarb (comarbu lit. 'successor') of Colum mac Crimthainn, and the chief scholar (prímsenchaid) of Leinster.
From annals recorded in the manuscript we can say it was written between 1151 and 1201, with the bulk of the work probably complete in the 1160s.
[edit] References
- ^ O Croinin, Daibhi, Prehistoric and Early Ireland (Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0198217374), p. 546
- ^ Ms A3 at www.ucd.ie
- ^ Best et al., The Book of Leinster. Vol 1. xv.
[edit] Sources
- Atkinson, Robert. The Book of Leinster, sometime called the Book of Glendalough. Dublin, 1880. 1-374. Facsimile edition.
- Best, R.I., Osborn Bergin, M.A. O'Brien and Anne O'Sullivan (eds). The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála. 6 vols. Dublin: DIAS, 1954-83. Diplomatic edition.
- O'Sullivan, William. "Notes on the Scripts and Make-Up of the Book of Leinster." Celtica 7 (1966): 1-31.
[edit] External links
- Contents of the Book of Leinster
- Yahoo! translation
- Irish text: volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 at CELT
