The Yellow Book of Lecan (YBL; Irish: ''Leabhar Buidhe Leacáin''), or TCD MS 1318 (''olim'' H 2.16), is a

late medieval The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

Irish

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 i ...

. It contains much of the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later Early Irish ...

, besides other material. It is held in the

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

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 ...

Overview

The manuscript is written on

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 anim ...

and contains 344 columns of text. The first 289 were written by 1391; the remainder were written by 1401. It is written in

Middle Irish Middle Irish, sometimes called Middle Gaelic ( ga, An Mheán-Ghaeilge, gd, Meadhan-Ghàidhlig), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of late Old Engl ...

. Lecan was the site of the Mac Fhirbhisigh school of poetry in the territory of Tír Fhíacrach Múaidhe, now ''Lackan'' in

Kilglass Kilglass or Kilglas () is a rural townland in County Sligo, Ireland, in the hinterland of Enniscrone. The area is the location of an Anglican church, built in 1829 with funding provided by the Board of First Fruits, and renovated in 1996. The ...

parish,

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

(). The manuscript is currently housed at

. It should not be confused with the '' Great Book of Lecan''. The book contains nearly the whole of the

, including a partial version of the ''Táin Bó Cúailnge'' which is a compilation of two or more earlier versions, indicated by the number of duplicated episodes and references to other versions in the text.Reference is made to the fragmented nature of the story in a related tale, ''Do Fhallsigud Tána Bó Cuailnge'' ("The rediscovery of the ''Táin Bó Cuailnge''"), in the

Book of Leinster The Book of Leinster ( mga, Lebor Laignech , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled c. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339). It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' "Book ...

, which begins: "The poets of Ireland one day were gathered around

Senchán Torpéist Senchán Torpéist (c. 560–649 AD) was a Gaelic-Irish poet. Background Seanchan Torpest was the Chief Poet of Connacht c.640 AD when he succeeded Dallán Forgaill as Chief Ollam of Ireland. He died in c.649 AD. His father was Cuairfheartaig ...

, to see if they could recall the ''Táin Bó Cuailnge'' in its entirety. But they all said they knew only parts of it." Thomas Kinsella (trans., 1969), ''The Táin'', Oxford University Press. This incomplete ''Táin Bó Cúailnge'' overlaps with the partial version given in the

Book of the Dun Cow The manuscript known as Lebor na hUidre (English translation: Book of the Dun Cow) is the oldest extant written in Gaelic (Irish), and the texts included therein recount Irish history through an eschatological lens. The Christian authors who c ...

; the complete text known today was derived from the combination of these

recension Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author. The term is derived from Latin ''recensio'' ("review, analysis"). In textual criticism (as ...

s. The version of

Fergus mac Róich Fergus mac Róich (literally " manliness, son of great stallion") is a character in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Formerly the king of Ulster, he is tricked out of the kingship and betrayed by Conchobar mac Nessa, becomes the ally and lo ...

's death tale in the Yellow Book of Lecan is the oldest one that survives. The Yellow Book of Lecan also contains parts of the

Táin Bó Flidhais ''Táin Bó Flidhais'', also known as the ''Mayo Táin'', is a tale from the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. It is one of a group of works known as Táin Bó, or "cattle raid" stories, the best known of which is '' Táin Bó Cúailnge' ...

or the Mayo Táin, a tale set in Erris, Co. Mayo. In addition to that material which would be placed with certainty within the Ulster Cycle, the book has a later version of ''The Voyage of Máel Dúin'', a collection of

Irish triads The title ''Trecheng Breth Féne'' "A Triad of Judgments of the Irish", more widely known as "The Triads of Ireland", refers to a miscellaneous collection of about 256 Old Irish triads (and some numerical variants) on a variety of topics, such as ...

, and the same

ogham Ogham ( Modern Irish: ; mga, ogum, ogom, later mga, ogam, label=none ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish langu ...

tract as is recorded in the Book of Ballymote. Also of note is ''Suidiugud Tellaich Temra'' ("The settling of the manor of Tara"). It contains a story of the life of

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints b ...

as told by

Fintan mac Bóchra In Irish mythology Fintan mac Bóchra (modern spelling: Fionntán), known as "the Wise", was a seer who accompanied Noah's granddaughter Cessair to Ireland before the deluge. Bóchra may be his mother, or may be a poetic reference to the sea. H ...

that contains the account of Trefuilngid Tre-eochair, a giant at the

Hill of Tara The Hill of Tara ( ga, Teamhair or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in I ...

who is first to hear about the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. Trefuilngid's contradicts the well-known story death tale of Conchobar mac Nessa (also contained in the Yellow Book of Lecan) that states the king knew of Christ's death when it happened and dropped dead because of the fact.

History

Edward Lhuyd Edward Lhuyd FRS (; occasionally written Llwyd in line with modern Welsh orthography, 1660 – 30 June 1709) was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary. He is also named in a Latinate form as Eduardus Luidius. Life ...

obtained the book from one of two sources;

Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh Roderick O'Flaherty ( ga, Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh; 1629–1718 or 1716) was an Irish historian. Biography He was born in County Galway and inherited Moycullen Castle and estate. O'Flaherty was the last ''de jure'' Lord of Iar Connacht, ...

about March 1700 at An Pháirc,

An Spidéal Spiddal ( ga, An Spidéal , meaning 'the hospital') is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road. It is on the eastern side of the county's Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) an ...

; or from Dáithí Óg Ó Dubhda of Bunnyconnellan,

, in the same year. Ó Flaithbheartaigh and Ó Dubhda would have obtained them from

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 ...

, whose family created and preserved the book. Lhuyd bound together seventeen manuscripts as a single volume and dubbed them ''The Yellow Book of Lecan''. Some of the manuscripts were written by Giolla Íosa Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh between c.1398 and c.1417. Nollaig Ó Muraíle calls it

a great composite manuscripts. Ninety-nine folios of Giolla Isa's survive (which may be termed, for convenience, 'Leabhar Giolla Íosa' – LGÍ), containing some of the most important Irish literary texts from the Old and Middle Irish periods, including the only (virtually) complete copy of Rescension I of
Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...
. Two colophons by Giolla Íosa indicate 1392 as the date of writing, though the work may not have been brought to completion for some years after that

Giolla Íosa was assisted by his student,

Murchadh Ó Cuindlis Murchadh (or Muircheartach) Riabhach Ó Cuindlis () was an Irish scribe of the Ó Cuindlis family of brehons and scholars. He was said to be a native of Bally Lough Deacker in what is now the extreme south of County Galway. Ó Cuindlis was one ...

. Ó Cuinnlis penned an excellent manuscript in east Ormond (now

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 ...

in 1398–99) which is now part of YBL. Giolla Íosa wrote that he "wrote this book for himself and for his son after him", and elsewhere, that it was "for himself and his family after him." Ó Muraíle further states: "That is one index of Giolla Íosa Mac Fir Bhisigh's importance; to his scribal labours we owe the preservation of the most celebrated of medieval Irish tales, Táin Bó Cúailnge." (p. 23) YBL also contains ''Aided Nath Í'', ''

Togail Bruidne Dá Derga ''Togail Bruidne Dá Derga'' (''The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel'') is an Irish tale belonging to the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. It survives in three Old and Middle Irish recensions, it is part of the Book of Dun Cow. It recounts th ...

'', ''Táin Bó Fraích'', ''Longes ma nUislenn''; ''Dá Brón Flatha Nime'' and ''

Mesca Ulad ''Mesca Ulad'' (English: ''The Intoxication of the Ulaid''; the Ulstermen) is a narrative from the Ulster Cycle preserved in the 12th century manuscripts the Book of Leinster and in the Lebor na hUidre. The title ''Mesca Ulad'' occurs only in the ...

'' by his son, Tomás Cam Mac Firbhisigh. In 1986 (see below) Professor Tomás Ó Concheanainn stated his belief that much of the Yellow Book of Lecan/Leabhar Giolla Íosa was derived from ''Leabhar Gleann Dá Locha'' (''The Book of Glendalough'') and ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' now '' The Book of Leinster''. A fragment of the ''Yellow Book'' is in the hand of Solamh Ó Droma, one of the three scribes of the '' Book of Ballymote''. Lhuyd derived the title from a note by Ciothruadh Mac Fhirbhisigh:

'' eabr an Buide Leacain anim an leabhair so; mise Cirruaidh mac Taidg Ruaidh'' The Yellow Book of Lecan is the name of this book; I am Ciothruagh son of Taidg Ruaidh

The numbering for the texts given below is both by column (as in the manuscript) and by number of pagination (as in the facsimile edition). The titles here do not necessarily refer to the titles given in the manuscript (if any), but conform to those of the main recensions.The list of contents here follows

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * , list of contents of work by pages

Manuscripts