The Book of the White Earl is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

religious and literary

miscellany A miscellany is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a miscellany can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different forms. In contrast to anthologies, whose a ...

created c. 1404–1452. ''The Book of the White Earl'', now Bodleian Laud Misc. MS 610, consists of twelve folios inserted into Leabhar na Rátha, aka The Book of Pottlerath. It was created by

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

scribes 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 promin ...

under the patronage of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (1392–1452). Henry and Marsh-Michel describe it as follows:

''"The sumptuous initials of this book are not more or less servile repetition of twelfth-century work ... the work of the scribe also is dazzling. He plays like a virtuoso with various sizes of script, the larger size having a majestic decorative quality. The contents are no less remarkable; the '
Martyrology of Óengus A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by n ...
', the '
Acallam na Senórach ''Acallam na Senórach'' ( Modern Irish: ''Agallamh na Seanórach'', whose title in English has been given variously as ''Colloquy of the Ancients'', ''Tales of the Elders of Ireland'', ''The Dialogue of the Ancients of Ireland'', etc.), is an im ...
' and a dindsenchus. The foliage pattern is probably inspired by foreign models, but is so completely integrated that the borrowing is only realised on second thoughts. The initials are large, bold, and drawn in firm lines and bright colours"''

Butler is admired for having been strongly

Gaelicised Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the ''Gaels'', a sub-branch of celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread from Ire ...

. He was an Irish-speaker and seems to have been the very first of the Anglo-Irish lords to appoint a

brehon Brehon ( ga, breitheamh, ) is a term for a historical arbitration, mediative and judicial role in Gaelic culture. Brehons were part of the system of Early Irish law, which was also simply called " Brehon law". Brehons were judges, close in impo ...

, Domhnall Mac Flannachadha, for his service. Butler granted Mac Flannchadha lands in

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

Sources

*''Manuscripts and illuminations 1169-1603'', by Francoise Henry and Genevieve Louise Marsh-Micheli, in ''A New History of Ireland'', pp. 801–803, volume two. *''Laud 610
The Laud Genealogies and Tribal Histories.
' UCC CELT project. **

' at UCC CELT project - primitive version of the

List of High Kings of Ireland Medieval Irish historical tradition held that Ireland had a High King (''Ard Rí'') based at Tara since ancient times, and compilations like the 11th-century ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', followed by Early Modern works like the ''Annals of the Fo ...

included in the MS. {{DEFAULTSORT:Book Of The White Earl, The 15th-century books Early Irish literature Irish texts Irish-language literature Fenian Cycle Irish literature Irish manuscripts Literary illuminated manuscripts Bodleian Library collection Butler dynasty