Sir James Ware (26 November 1594 – 1 December 1666) was an Irish historian.
Personal details
Born at Castle Street,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
on 26 November 1594, James Ware was the eldest son of Sir James Ware (1568–1632) and Mary Bryden, daughter of Ambrose Bryden of
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...
. Originally from
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, his father came to Ireland in 1588 as secretary to the
Lord Deputy of Ireland
The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...
,
Sir William FitzWilliam, was knighted by
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
, elected to the
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...
for
Mallow in 1613, and served as auditor of
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
He also had a younger brother Joseph,
Dean of Elphin
The Dean of Elphin and Ardagh is based in St John the Baptist Cathedral, Sligo in the Diocese of Elphin and Ardagh within the united bishopric of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh of the Church of Ireland. The dioceses of Elphin and Ardagh were merged i ...
from 1642 to 1648, while his sister Martha married Sir William Piers and was the mother of
Sir Henry Piers, 1st Baronet
Sir Henry Piers 1st Baronet (1629–1691), of Tristernagh Abbey, County Westmeath, Ireland was an Anglo-Irish landowner, soldier, Member of Parliament, Sheriff of Counties Longford and Westmeath, Sheriff of St Johnstown, and an antiquarian.
...
, who shared his uncle's antiquarian interests.
In 1620, he married Elizabeth Newman and they had ten children together, only two of whom outlived their father, his eldest son James (1622–1689) and the fifth,
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
(1639–1696). The others included Roger (1624–1642), Mary (1625–1651), Rose (1627–1649), who married
Richard Lambart, 2nd Earl of Cavan
Richard Lambart, 2nd Earl of the County of Cavan (1628–1690) was Member of Parliament for Kilbeggan between 1647 and 1649.
The title Earl of Cavan was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1647 for Charles Lambart, 2nd Baron Lambart. Richard wa ...
("the mad Earl"), Elizabeth (1629–1649), John (1631–1650), Ann (1633–1650), Arthur (1637–1640) and Joseph (1643–1644).
Career
Ware entered
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
in October 1611, where he became interested in Irish history and began assembling a collection of Irish
manuscripts
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 ...
. He also made transcriptions from works held in other collections, including that of his close friend
James Ussher
James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ident ...
(1581–1656),
Primate of Ireland
The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in t ...
from 1625 to 1656. During the early 1620s he assisted his father in collating the findings of the 1622
Royal Commission which provided a critical appraisal of the state of affairs in Ireland. His work caught the attention of
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (13 October 1566 – 15 September 1643), also known as the Great Earl of Cork, was an English politician who served as Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland.
Lord Cork was an important figure in the continuing ...
, who employed him to research his own family history, part of Cork's dynastic ambitions to place the Boyles on the same level as some of the more established families in Ireland.
![James Ussher portrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/James_Ussher_portrait.jpg)
His experience with the Commission meant that in 1629 he was commissioned by Lords Justices Cork and
Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus
Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus (c. 1568–1643), was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1619 and from 1622 raised to the peerage of Ireland as Viscount Loftus of Ely, King's County. His uncle, another Adam Loftus, was both Lord Chancellor of Irela ...
to attend
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
in London to discuss the financial crisis facing the Irish government. The success of this visit resulted in his knighthood in
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...
on 28 February 1630 and he inherited the post of Auditor General when his father died in 1632.
Following the appointment of Sir
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, (13 April 1593 ( N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1 ...
as
Lord Deputy of Ireland
The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...
, Ware's political fortunes continued on an upward curve. He was elected
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Dublin University
The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...
in 1634 thanks to Wentworth's endorsement. He accompanied the lord deputy to
Connacht
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...
as part of the government's attempts to extend its policy regarding
plantations of Ireland
Plantations in 16th- and 17th-century Ireland involved the confiscation of Irish-owned land by the English Crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from Great Britain. The Crown saw the plantations as a means of controlling, angl ...
. His knowledge and ownership of medieval Irish manuscripts was central in this regard, where he brought with him
Irish annals
A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over t ...
to enable Wentworth to prove royal claims to land in Connacht. In 1638 he obtained, with Sir
Philip Perceval
Sir Philip Perceval (1605 – 10 November 1647) was an England, English politician and knight. He was knighted in 1638, obtained grants of forfeited lands in Ireland to the amount of , and lost extensive property in Ireland owing to the Irish Re ...
, the monopoly of granting licenses for the sale of ale and brandy,
a lucrative deal that was no doubt reward for his efforts in making the Irish administration more efficient.
One of the few English government officials who earned Wentworth's respect, in September 1640 he was elevated to the
Irish Privy Council and also elected to the
Parliament of Ireland
The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...
. When Wentworth was impeached by the
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...
and subsequently executed in May 1641, he managed to avoid prosecution of his close associates, which included
John Bramhall
John Bramhall, DD (1594 – 25 June 1663) was an Archbishop of Armagh, and an Anglican theologian and apologist. He was a noted controversialist who doggedly defended the English Church from both Puritan and Roman Catholic accusations, as well ...
, bishop of Derry,
Sir George Radcliffe
Sir George Radcliffe (1599 – May 1657) was an English lawyer and politician. He spent much of his political career in Ireland, where he was a key member of the firm and ruthless Strafford administration. He lived out his last years in exile in t ...
, Lord Chancellor
Richard Bolton and
Gerard Lowther,
Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas
The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the s ...
.
Assessing Ware's political conduct under the dichotomous governments of Lords Justice Loftus and Cork (1629–32) and Lord Deputy Wentworth (1632–41) is not necessarily straightforward. But ultimately he was a royalist in the truest sense in that he did not necessarily share the same political views, or at least approve of Wentworth's style of governing (especially in regards to reforms for the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
). Nevertheless, he was prepared to follow instructions if it meant benefiting the king's interest in Ireland.
The Crisis of the 1640s and Exile
Ware remained firm to the royalist cause during the
Irish Confederate Wars
The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...
, which were part of the conflict known as the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities united in a pers ...
, consuming much of Ireland and Britain during the 1640s. He was a strong supporter of
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was a statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failur ...
. In 1644 he was sent to Oxford to advise Charles I of developments in Ireland. In his free time, he studied in the
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
and was awarded a doctor of civil law from the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
in recognition of his scholarly achievements. While travelling back to Ireland in January 1646, he was captured by
Parliamentarian forces and imprisoned in the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
until October, when he was released and returned to Dublin. However, when Ormond surrendered the city to the new Parliamentarian governor Colonel
Michael Jones in June 1647, Ware and Richard Ormond were sent to England as hostages to ensure compliance with the terms.
Ware was expelled in 1649 on account of his royalist sympathies and the threat he posed to the Cromwellian regime in Ireland. He departed Ireland in April 1649 staying primarily at the Protestant stronghold of Caen where Ormonde's influential wife, Elizabeth Butler, was living with her family. In October 1650 Ware obtained a licence to move to London, thanks to the intervention of Ussher, on condition that he refrained from engaging in politics. He would stay in the English capital until at least 1658 during which time he revived scholarly research and established intimate friendships with many of the leading English historians and antiquarians such as
John Selden
John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...
, Sir
William Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.
Life
Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coleshi ...
, and Sir
Roger Twysden
Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet (21 August 1597 – 27 June 1672), of Roydon Hall near East Peckham in Kent, was an English historian and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1625 and 1640.
Life
Twysden was the son ...
.
Restoration
The 1660
Stuart Restoration
The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...
saw Ware resume his position as auditor general which had been stripped from him by the Cromwellian regime. He was re-elected as MP for the University of Dublin at the Irish parliament of 1661-66 and continued to be an active member of the privy council. More significantly, he was appointed one of the commissioners for the Irish land settlement - a lucrative position and reward for his unwavering loyalty to the Crown and Ormond during the 1640s. He remained on close terms with the duke, who frequently visited him for consultations at his home in Castle Street. He died there on 1 December 1666, aged seventy-two, and was buried in
St Werburgh's Church, Dublin
St. Werburgh's Church is a Church of Ireland church building in Dublin, Ireland. The original church on this site was built in 1178, shortly after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the town. It was named after St. Werburgh, abbess of Ely a ...
. In 1879 the curate, Rev. J. H. McMahon, sought to solicit subscriptions to erect a mural table by way of paying tribute to "Ware’s vast merits as a reliable writer of Irish history, and as a real credit to Ireland, and to Dublin, his native city". Though McMahon's attempts proved futile, it nevertheless served as a reminder of Ware's enduring legacy and esteem with which he was held two hundred years later.
Legacy
His son Robert struggled with
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
in his youth but showed a keen interest in history and sought to emulate his father, who bequeathed him his valuable manuscripts, to which Robert added forgeries in the blank pages. Using his father's reputation to enhance his own, he recorded "imaginary conversations and plots, unhappily bedevilling sixteenth-century Irish ecclesiastical history for over 300 years". The sectarian insertions left a partial stain on Sir James Ware's reputation – whose research deliberately refrained from making highly sensitive religious comments – and the forgeries were not discovered for another two hundred years, when, in the late nineteenth century, Thomas E. Bridgett revealed irregularities in Sir James Ware's manuscripts.
Robert was not alone in distorting Sir James Ware's research for political and religious gain.
Walter Harris, who married Robert's granddaughter, also used Ware's work for anti-Catholic purposes. His translation of Ware's works in 1739 entitled, ''The Whole Works of James Ware Concerning Ireland revised and Improved'', "sought to resume Ussher's discussion of the antiquity of the Church of Ireland by imposing upon Ware's comparatively innocuous text the appearance of a study of Protestant lineage among its author's civilised antiquity". Harris's alterations were significant. "Just as Robert deceived his readers by claiming his forgeries were genuine because they came from his father’s manuscripts, Harris misled his audience by including material that had no connection with James’ investigations."
In 1686 Robert sold his father's manuscripts to
Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon
Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, PC (2 June 163831 October 1709) was an English aristocrat and politician. He held high office at the beginning of the reign of his brother-in-law, King James II.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Edward Hyd ...
who then passed them on to
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, (6 January 16739 August 1744) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1698 until 1714, when he succeeded to the peerage as Baron Chandos, and vacated ...
(1674–1744). Repeated attempts were made to purchase Ware's prized manuscripts, notably by Archbishop
William King of Dublin and the famous satirist
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...
, Dean of
St Patrick's Cathedral Dublin. However, they were unsuccessful. Though the manuscripts were later sold and dispersed, a large part of Ware's collection was fortunately preserved. Following an auction of Chandos's library in 1747, several of Ware's manuscripts were purchased by
Richard Rawlinson
Richard Rawlinson FRS (3 January 1690 – 6 April 1755) was an English clergyman and antiquarian collector of books and manuscripts, which he bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Life
Richard Rawlinson was a younger son of Sir Thomas R ...
who subsequently deposited them in the Bodleian Library in 1755. Another large collection was donated to the British Museum (now British Library) in 1765 thanks to
Jeremiah Milles
Rev. Jeremiah Milles (1714–1784)
Bodleian Library, Oxford. Accessed 26 November 2016. , Dean of Exeter, who was executor for his cousin, the noted manuscript collector and Bishop of Ossory,
Richard Pococke
Richard Pococke (19 November 1704 – 25 September 1765)''Notes and Queries'', p. 129. was an English-born churchman, inveterate traveller and travel writer. He was the Bishop of Ossory (1756–65) and Meath (1765), both dioceses of the Church ...
.
Bibliography
Ecclesiastical Works
Ware's first book, published in 1626, was ''Archiepiscoporum Cassiliensium & Tuamensium Vitae'', an impressive introduction into historical research which traced the
archbishop of Cashel
The Archbishop of Cashel ( ga, Ard-Easpag Chaiseal Mumhan) was an archiepiscopal title which took its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. Following the Reformation, there had been parallel apostolic successions to the title ...
and
Tuam
Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bron ...
from the twelfth to seventeenth century. To this, he appended a catalogue of the Cistercian abbeys in Ireland that had been founded between 1139 and 1260. This was followed by ''De Praesulibus Lageniae'' in 1628. A well-informed and more detailed study, Ware's analysis of the bishops of Leinster included a thorough analysis of the prelates of Dublin, Kildare, Ferns, Leighlin, and Ossory. The episcopal catalogues were a remarkable achievement not only because they shed important light on Ireland's rich history but also because he fused Irish medieval manuscripts and state records to produce a reliable and detailed work. Among the notable sources he consulted for his work on the Leinster bishops included 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, ...
,
Annals of Connacht
The ''Annals of Connacht'' (), covering the years 1224 to 1544, are drawn from a manuscript compiled in the 15th and 16th centuries by at least three scribes, all believed to be members of the Clan Ó Duibhgeannáin.
The early sections, commenci ...
, Annals of John Clyn and
Red Book of Ossory (to name but a few).
Secular Works
In 1633 he published one of his most famous works: ''The Historie of Ireland, collected by three learned authors''. This included
Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...
's 'Historie of Ireland',
Meredith Hanmer
Meredith Hanmer (1543–1604) was a Welsh clergyman, known as a controversialist, historian, and translator. He was considered embittered, by the Lord-Deputy William Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Thornhaugh; but he appears now as a shrewd observer ...
's 'Chronicle of Ireland' and, notably, the controversial tract by
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...
, 'A View of the State of Ireland'. Contrary to what the title claimed, Ware also included the short work of the fifteenth-century chronicler, Henry Marlborough, whose 'Chronicle of Ireland' began at 1285 and thus suitably complemented Hanmer's work which ended in 1284. The work has received widespread attention from Irish historians for Ware's subtle editing of Spenser's political writings as well as its dedication to Lord Deputy Wentworth. His attempts to tone the text down was, as he admitted, an attempt to reflect the more peaceful times of the 1630s. At the same time it is hard to see the inclusion of the 'View' as nothing more than a reflection of political and colonial ambitions of the new government under Wentworth.
Ware's fourth work was arguably his best to date. ''De Scriptoribus Hiberniae'', published in Dublin in 1639, was an exhaustive account of the writers of Ireland from the fourth to the seventeenth century. It was divided into two books: the first considered Irish authors while the second provided information on 'foreign' writers commenting on Ireland. Rich in source material, one of the most striking features was Ware's ability to interconnect medieval Irish manuscripts with European printed works. The turmoil of the civil war in the 1640s, and his senior role under the government of
James Butler meant it was to be his last published work for fifteen years.
Ware's first new book since the 1630s was ''De Hibernia et Antiquitatibus eius Disquisitones'', published in London in 1654, and in a second edition in 1658. This was followed in 1656 by ''Opuscula Sancto Patricio Adscripta''. The year 1664 saw the publication of ''Venerabilis Bedae Epistolae Duae'' and ''Rerum Hibernicarum Annales ab Anno Domini 1485 ad Annum 1558''. In the following year, which saw the publication of ''De Praesulibus Hiberniae Commentarius'', he began a brief though fruitful collaboration with
Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh
Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (), also known as Dubhaltach Óg mac Giolla Íosa Mór mac Dubhaltach Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh, Duald Mac Firbis, Dudly Ferbisie, and Dualdus Firbissius (fl. 1643 – January 1671) was an Irish scribe, translator, histori ...
. It was later stated that ''"He always kept in his House an Irish
Amanuensis
An amanuensis () is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another, and also refers to a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In one example Eric Fenby ...
to interpret and translate the Language for him, and at the Time of his Death one Dubley Firbisse served him in that Office."''
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
* Alan Ford, ''James Ussher: Theology, History, and Politics in early-modern Ireland and England'' (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Bernadette Cunningham and Raymond Gillespie, 'James Ussher and his Irish Manuscripts', ''Studia Hibernica'', no. 33 (2004-2005), pp 81–99
* Mark Empey, 'Value-free' history? The scholarly network of Sir James Ware', ''History Ireland'', 20:2 (2012), pp 20–3
*
Nollaig Ó Muraíle
Nollaig Ó Muraíle is an Irish scholar. He published an acclaimed edition of Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' in 2004. He was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy in 2009.
Life and career
A native of Knock, County Mayo, Ó ...
,''The Celebrated Antiquary: Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (c. 1600–1671), his lineage, life and learning'' (Maynooth, 1996).
* Michael Herity, 'Rathmulcah, Ware and MacFirbisigh', ''Ulster Journal of Archaeology'', 33 (1970), pp 49–53
* Graham Parry, ''The Trophies of Time: English Antiquarians of the Seventeenth Century'' (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995), pp 153–6
* Mark Williams, 'Lacking Ware, withal': finding Sir James Ware among the many incarnations of his histories' in Jason McElligott and
Eve Patten (eds), ''The Perils of Print Culture: Book, Print and Publishing History in theory and practice'' (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), pp 64–81
*
* https://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/value-free-history-the-scholarly-network-of-sir-james-ware/
* https://www.confessio.ie/
* https://web.archive.org/web/20090819161839/http://members.cox.net/wdegidio/ware/WaresofIreland.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, James
1594 births
1666 deaths
17th-century Irish historians
Irish genealogists
Irish expatriates in France
Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom
Writers from Dublin (city)
Irish book and manuscript collectors
Irish chroniclers
Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Dublin University
Irish MPs 1634–1635
Irish MPs 1639–1649
Irish Latinists
Irish MPs 1661–1666