Séamus Ó Siaghail, OFM ( fl. 1636?), was an 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 ...

. Ó Siaghail was a member of the

Ó Siadhail Ó Siadhail / uaSiadhail / uaSiadgail is a Gaelic-Irish surname. Overview There were at least three families of this name in Gaelic Ireland. * Ó Siadhail of Ui Maine, now east County Galway. * Ó Siadhail of Uí Failghe, now County Offaly a ...

bardic family that had lived in Uí Failghe. He was a member of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Order, whose patrons included Toirdhealbhach Mac Cochláin, to whom the 1627 English translation of the

Annals of Clonmacnoise The ''Annals of Clonmacnoise'' ( ga, Annála Chluain Mhic Nóis) are an early 17th-century Early Modern English translation of a lost Irish chronicle, which covered events in Ireland from prehistory to 1408. The work is sometimes known as ''Mag ...

was dedicated. At some point before October 1636, Séamus Ó Siaghail and his fellow-Franciscan, Aodh Ó Raghailligh, began the process of transcribing and translating ''The Rule of St. Clare'' into the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

for the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

of Bethleham,

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

. However, for reasons unknown, the work remained unfinished, though

Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Mícheál Ó Cléirigh (), sometimes known as Michael O'Clery, was an Irish chronicler, scribe and antiquary and chief author of the ''Annals of the Four Masters,'' assisted by Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire, and Pereg ...

finished the transcription in mid-October 1636. It was some ten years later before the work was finished at

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, at the behest of

Mary Bonaventure Browne Mother Mary Bonaventure Browne (born after 1610, died after 1670) was a Poor Clare nun, abbess, and Irish historian. Background A daughter of Andrew Browne fitz Oliver, a wealthy merchant and a member of The Tribes of Galway. She was a niece of ...

, by

Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh 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 completed on 8 December 1647 and is now Royal Irish Academy MS D i 2.

References

* p. 162, "The Poor Clare Order in Ireland", Bernadette Cunningham, in "The Irish Franciscans 1534-1990", ed. Bhreathnach, MacMahon, McCafferty,

Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...

, 2009.

External links

Stanthonyshrine.org

Sources.nli.ie
{{DEFAULTSORT:O Siaghail, Seamus Irish scribes Irish translators People from County Offaly 17th-century Irish writers Irish Franciscans Irish-language writers

See also

References

External links