The Faddan More Psalter ( ga, Saltair an Fheadáin Mhóir) (also Irish Bog Psalter or "Faddan Mor Psalter") is an
early medieval
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
Christian
psalter or text of the
book of Psalms, discovered in a
peat bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
in July 2006, in the townland of
Faddan More ( ga, Feadán Mór) in north
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...
, Ireland.
The manuscript was probably written in about 800 CE in one of a number of monasteries in the area. After several years of conservation work, the psalter went on display at the
National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology
The National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Seandálaíocht, often known as the "NMI") is a branch of the National Museum of Ireland located on Kildare Street in Dublin, Ireland, that specialises in Irish an ...
in
Kildare Street
Kildare Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland.
Location
Kildare Street is close to the principal shopping area of Grafton Street and Dawson Street, to which it is joined by Molesworth Street. Trinity College lies at the north end of the ...
, Dublin in June 2011.
[NMI]
This discovery was hailed by the
National Museum of Ireland as one of the most significant Irish
archaeological finds in decades.
[Ancient manuscript discovered in the Midlands]
– RTÉ News, 25 July 2006 Bernard Meehan of the
Trinity College Library
The Library of Trinity College Dublin () serves Trinity College and the University of Dublin. It is a legal deposit or "copyright library", under which, publishers in Ireland must deposit a copy of all their publications there, without charge ...
, who advised on the discovery, said that he believed the psalter was the first discovery of an Irish early
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
in two centuries. During the conservation process, in the period 2006–2010, the inside of the leather cover was found to be lined with
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
, probably as a stiffening; it has been suggested that this points to links between Irish
Celtic Christianity and the
Coptic church
The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي ...
es at the time.
The psalter joins the very small number of very early Western books that have survived fully intact with their original
bookbindings. These mostly have their origins in the monastic
Insular art of Britain and Ireland, and the
Celtic and
Anglo-Saxon missions to Europe. The earliest is the
St Cuthbert Gospel of about 700 (
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
), and other examples probably of the mid-8th century are at
Fulda on the continent. However the wallet-like style of the Faddan More binding, and that it does not seem to have been physically attached to the sewn-together pages, make it unique among surviving covers.
Description
![Faddan More Psalter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Faddan_More_Psalter.jpg)
The psalter contains the Latin text of the Psalms, complete on 60 sheets of
vellum
Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...
in five gatherings or
quires. The text is a
Gallican version of the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
, written in
Insular majuscule
Insular is an adjective used to describe:
* An island
* Someone who is isolated and parochial
Insular may also refer to:
Sub-national territories or regions
* Insular Chile
* Insular region of Colombia
* Insular Ecuador, administratively known ...
letters in a single column. The first letter of each psalm has a capital and, as is often the case, the opening words of psalms 1, 51 and 101 are decorated, using black, red, and yellow.
The original leather binding has a fold-over flap with three horn buttons that were probably used to secure a thong or straps, now missing, that tied the cover up; it does not seem to have been physically attached to the gathered and sewn-together pages inside, forming what we might call today a folder or wallet. Similar covers seem to be shown in some images in manuscripts, but no comparable covers have survived. The outside of the cover was "painted with black carbon-based pigment". The leather seems to have been used as a trial piece or sketchpad for composing patterns of
interlace for other objects. On the inside there is a sheet of papyrus, presumably used as a liner to stiffen the cover somewhat.
Low oxygen levels in the bog provide unusual preservation conditions, and bogs were often used by Irish monks as hiding places for valuables in the face of
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
raids. In addition to low oxygen levels,
sphagnum
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...
moss, of which the peat bog is composed, produces an antibiotic substance called
sphagnan that binds with proteins on the surface of microorganisms, immobilising them. Its highly reactive carbonyl groups can alter chemicals and nutrients that would otherwise decompose organic matter. And above all the sphagnum moss causes organic material to undergo chemical changes itself that make it impervious to rot.
Discovery
It was uncovered by bulldozer driver Eddie Fogarty,
[ a worker extracting ]peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...
with a backhoe. Patrick Wallace, director of the National Museum, praised Fogarty for immediately having covered the book with damp soil, as exposure to dry air after so many centuries of dampness might have destroyed it. The book was initially stored in refrigeration at the National Museum. Identifying the safest way to pry open the pages without damaging or destroying them was expected to take months, and conservation work to take two years. The area around Faddan More Bog is rich in medieval history. Monastic foundations such as Lorrha
Lorrha (from ) is a small village at the northern tip of County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located on a minor road between the R489 Birr to Portumna road and the N65 Nenagh to Portumna road about five kilometres east of the point where the Ri ...
and Terryglass
Terryglass () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. The small town is located on the R493 regional road on the north-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. It is a civil parish in the historical barony o ...
in County Tipperary and Birr and Seirkieran in County Offaly are located nearby.[
The bog is owned by local brothers Kevin and Patrick Leonard. Six years before the psalter find, a leather satchel was found that, by radiocarbon dating, was estimated to originate from between the seventh and ninth centuries. This was found just from where the psalter was found and is of a similar date, suggesting that the satchel may have originally contained the book. Additionally, in the years before 2006, two ancient wooden vessels were found in the same bog.][
]
Misreported prophecy
When found, the book was opened to a page displaying Psalm
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
83 (in the Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...
numbering), which corresponds with Psalm 84 in the Masoretic
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
numbering used in most English-language translations. Due to confusion regarding differences in numbering the Psalms, some news sites implied that the Psalter was open at the Masoretic Psalm 83. That psalm contains such lines as "They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance"; this reference to the attempted destruction of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
connected the find in some people's minds with the contemporaneous 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Le ...
. The matter was clarified by the director of the National Museum of Ireland, who pointed out the difference in Septuagint vs. Masoretic
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
numbering and that the displayed psalm contains no reference to the destruction of Israel.
Conservation
The psalter was in poor condition, due to the acidic peat bog which had, however, been responsible for preserving it. It was in visibly so bad a condition that someone in the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
put a picture of the mass in a staff area captioned "if you think you have a bad day ahead ...".
The National Museum of Ireland consulted with specialists in archaeological conservation and book conservation about the best way to conserve the psalter, and received partly conflicting advice. Ultimately a multi-phase conservation plan was determined. The first phase involved non-destructive examination of the psalter in the form in which it was discovered, e.g. photography, MRI scanning, and examination of the binding by book-binding specialists. In the second phase, experiments were done on 18th century parchments to determine the best way of drying waterlogged parchment. The most effective method involved soaking the parchment in ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...
to replace the water, placing it between blotting sheets, and vacuum-packing it. In the third phase, this technique was tested on small fragments of the psalter, and found to be effective. Conservators then began applying this method to larger sections of the psalter, and found they could consistently achieve shrinkage of only 2–5%, against 75% on a small fragment that was air-dried.
Dewatering was carried out over four years using a vacuum chamber to minimise shrinkage and decay. Then dismantling was carried out. The letters, written in iron gall ink
Iron gall ink (also known as common ink, standard ink, oak gall ink or iron gall nut ink) is a purple-black or brown-black ink made from iron salts and tannic acids from vegetable sources. It was the standard ink formulation used in Europe for ...
, were preserved better than spaces between letters, many of which had dissolved, so it was necessary after drying to piece them together in the right sequence.[ The process was described in a book from the National Museum of Ireland, ''The Faddan More Psalter, The Discovery and Conservation of a Medieval Treasure'' published in November 2021.
]
See also
* Cathach of St. Columba, a 6th-Century Irish psalter
* Springmount Bog Tablets, 7th-century Irish psalter written on wooden wax tablets
*Clonycavan Man
Clonycavan Man is the name given to a well-preserved Iron Age bog body found in Clonycavan, Ballivor, County Meath, Ireland in March 2003. The body shows signs of having been murdered. Theories around the meanings and manner of his death vary. ...
and Old Croghan Man
Old Croghan Man (''Seanfhear Chruacháin'' in Irish) is a well-preserved Irish Iron Age bog body found in June 2003. The remains are named after Croghan Hill, north of Daingean, County Offaly, near where the body was found. The find is on disp ...
, 2003 Irish bog finds
Notes
References
* "NMI PDF",
*"NMI", National Museum of Ireland
''Focus on the Faddan More Psalter'', 2011
*
External links
* Links to articles
"'Irish Dead Sea Scrolls' in bog"
on BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
"Ancient manuscript discovered in the Midlands"
on RTÉ News (video report attached)
"Clarification re Psalm 83 in Ancient Book of Psalms"
on National Museum of Ireland
* "Bible (World English)/Psalm 84"
* "Bible (King James)/Psalm 84"
"Book of Psalms (Latin)/Psalm 83"
article on irish bog bodies
{{coord, 53, 03, 13, N, 7, 59, 57, W, region:IE-OY_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
2006 archaeological discoveries
Archaeological artifacts
Irish manuscripts
Bogs of Ireland
Illuminated psalters
Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts
Bookbinding
Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
9th-century illuminated manuscripts