Ádhamh Cúisín, Irish

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

and genealogist, fl. c. 1400.

Life and career

Ádhamh Cúisín is the name of one of some ten scribes who compiled the ''Book of Uí Mháine''. His name seems to be of Norman origin, the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

noting that King

Ruaidrí Ó Gadhra Ruaidrí Ó Gadhra (died 1256) was an Irish people, Irish king of Sliabh Lugha and Chief of the Name. During Ruaidrí's lifetime the territory of Sliabh Lugha was conquered by the Sheriff of Connacht, Jordan de Exeter (died 1258), ancestor of the ...

Sliabh Lugha The Kings of Sliabh Lugha were rulers of the district of Sliabh Lugha located in what is now the barony of Costello, County Mayo, Ireland. The Sliabh Lugha area was originally part of Gailenga but by the 12th-century was separately called Slia ...

was killed in 1256 by ''"David, son of Richard Cuisin."'' The '' Annals of Connacht'' under 1270 records that ''"The Earl and the Connacht Galls made great raids in Tirerrill on the people of Aed O Conchobair. David Cusin was killed on this raid."'' David Cuisin or Cusin possessed a castle and land near

Ballaghaderreen Ballaghaderreen () is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It was part of County Mayo prior to 1898. It is located just off the N5 National primary road. The population was 1,808 in the 2016 census. History As of 1837, the town was recorde ...

. Another bearer of the name was Tomás Cúisín, listed under 1462 in the ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

'' as "the best master of law in his time in

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

who had a great school in this year." It is unknown if either of the latter two were related to Ádhamh. Ádhamh Cúisín has been noted by Ó Muraíle as "the most prolific of the scribes in the portion of the manuscript that still survives – his hand appears on 99 of the extant

folios The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book mad ...

). The manuscript was known to contain 368 folios in the 15th and 16th centuries. Two hundred and fifty years later, Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh transcribed a seventy-page historical-genealogical compilation called ''Seanchas Síl Ír''. His source can be shown to be the ''Book of Uí Mháine''. Mac Fhirbhisigh's faithful transcript is especially valuable as four of the original fourteen folios have since been lost. The book began to be written some time before 1392–1394, and some time after that date. It was written at the behest of Muircheartach Ó Cellaigh, who was Bishop of Clonfert (1378–1393) and

Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ga, Ard-Easpag Thuama) is an archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Catholic Church. Histor ...

till his death in 1407. Bishop Ó Cellaigh was a grandnephew of Uilliam Buidhe Ó Cellaigh, king of Uí Mháine from about 1349 to 1381. The only other scribe of the book known by name is Faolán Mac an Ghabhann na Scéal, who died in 1423. Mac an Ghabhann's poem, ''Adham ar n-athair uile'', was penned by Cúisín.

References

* ''The Surnames of Ireland'', Edward MacLysaght, Irish Academic Press, 1978, p. 73. . * ''The Ó Cellaigh Rulers of Uí Maine – A Genealogical Fragment, c.1400'', (Part 1), Nollaig Ó Muraíle, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, pp. 32–77, volume 60, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuisin, Adhamh People from County Galway People from County Roscommon 14th-century Irish writers Medieval European scribes Irish genealogists Irish scribes Irish-language writers Irish scholars and academics