An Leabhar Breac ("The Speckled Book"; Middle Irish: An Lebar Brec), now less commonly Leabhar Mór Dúna Doighre (The Great Book of Dun Doighre") or possibly erroneously, Leabhar Breac Mic Aodhagáin ("The Speckled Book of the MacEgans"), is a medieval Irish vellum manuscript containing

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 ...

and

Hiberno-Latin Hiberno-Latin, also called Hisperic Latin, was a learned style of literary Latin first used and subsequently spread by Irish monks during the period from the sixth century to the tenth century. Vocabulary and influence Hiberno-Latin was notabl ...

writings. The manuscript is held in the library of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one its leading cultural ...

in Dublin, where it is catalogued as

RIA A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

MS 23 P 16 or 1230. It was most probably compiled by Murchadh (Riabhach) Ó Cuindlis of Ballaghdacker, at Duniry between the years 1408 and 1411.

Duniry Duniry is a small village between Tynagh and Abbey, in County Galway, Ireland. Nearby is the townland of Limehill, the south of which has a bog. Duniry's most noted landmark was Egan's castle, now derelict; it flourished from 1450 to 1600 and ...

— Dún Daighre, Dún Doighre — in eastern

Clanricarde Clanricarde (; ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries. Te ...

(now east

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

) is situated south-east of the town of

Loughrea Loughrea ( ; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The town lies to the north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains, and the lake from which it takes its name. The town's cathedral, St Brendan's, dominates the town's skyline ...

, and in the medieval era was home to a branch of the bardic Clann

Mac Aodhagáin Mac Aodhagáin (English: ''Egan'' or ''Keegan''), is an Irish Gaelic clan of Brehons who were hereditary lawyers - firstly to the Ó Conchobhair Kings of Connacht, and later to the Burkes of Clanricarde. The earliest surviving Irish law manus ...

(the MacEgans), who served as

brehons Early Irish law, historically referred to as (English: Freeman-ism) or (English: Law of Freemen), also called Brehon law, comprised the statutes which governed everyday life in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norma ...

for the O'Connors of Clanricarde.

History

In the 16th century, the manuscript was in the possession of the Mac Egans of Duniry, hence the older title Leabhar Mór Dúna Doighre. In 1629, the manuscript was held in the convent of Kinalehin, County Galway. It was consulted by

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 Per ...

, brother of the Four Masters, who copied pp. 272–7. The book passed into the possession of Éamon Ó Ceallaigh (Co. Roscommon) in 1732, then of Dr. John O'Brien by 1768 and finally of Cornelius O'Daly (Mitchelstown, Co. Cork). The

acquired the first volume in 1789, when General

Charles Vallancey General Charles Vallancey FRS (6 April 1731 – 8 August 1812) was a British military surveyor sent to Ireland. He remained there and became an authority on Irish antiquities. Some of his theories would be rejected today, but his drawings, fo ...

purchased it for the academy for 3

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

from Cornelius O'Daly. O'Daly also owned the second volume, which comprises nine leaves, but was unaware that it belonged to the larger volume. In 1789, this volume was acquired by Chevalier O'Gorman, by George Smith of College Green in the next century and by the academy sometime after 1844. The manuscript is held in the academy's library in Dublin to this day.

Description

The manuscript is of a large size, measuring 40.5 cm x 28 cm, which makes it the largest Irish vellum manuscript to have been written by a single scribe. It contains 40

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

s, which are written in double columns. Capitals are decorated in a simple style, with some letters having been interwoven with zoomorphic patterns and coloured in red, vermilion, yellow and blue. There are two drawings, a flower-like diagram on p. 121 and a drawing of the Crucifixion on p. 166.

The manuscript consists almost entirely of religious writings in Latin and

. It includes homiletic ''Lives'' 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 ...

Saint Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...

Saint Brigid Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogr ...

, Saint Cellach, and Saint Martin, the earliest version of '' Félire Óengusso'' ("Martyrology of Óengus"), the ''Rule of the Céli Dé'', '' Aislinge Meic Con Glinne'' ("The Vision of Mac Conglinne"), a version of '' Fís Adamnáin'' ("The Vision of Adamnán"), '' Saltair na Rann'', ''Stair Nicomeid'' ("Gospel of Nicodemus"), ''Amra Choluim Chille'', a Marian litany, and various ecclesiastical legends, hymns, catecheses and homilies. Exceptions to the predominantly religious contents are '' Sanas Cormaic'' ("Cormac's Glossary") and a history of Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great.

Glosses and notes

The numerous notes which Murchadh Ó Cuindlis jotted into the margins afford us a unique glimpse of the circumstances of the writing process. These range from everyday details like a cat straying about or a robin singing in a beautiful voice to a nearby pillage in

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 ...

by a certain Murchad Ua Madagáin. A persistent object of complaint for the writer is the weather, in particular the cold.O'Neill, "Leabhar Breac." Based on the notes, Tomás Ó Concheanainn has been able to reconstruct the time span in which certain sections had been written. For instance, it took the scribe about 6 weeks to write 35 pages (pp. 141–75), while some parts proved more challenging, such as a column for a poem with interlinear glosses, which cost him a day.

Footnotes

References

*Welsh, Robert. ''Oxford Concise Companion to Irish Literature''. 1996. *O'Neill, Timothy. "Leabhar Breac." In ''Medieval Ireland. An Encyclopedia'', ed. Seán Duffy. New York, 2004. 266–7.

Sources

*Anonymous = Joseph Ó Longáin (fasc) and J.J. Gilbert (ed.). ''Leabhar Breac, the Speckled Book, otherwise styled Leabhar Mór Dúna Doighre, the Great Book of Dun Doighre''. Dublin, 1876. Lithographic

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of ...

edition.
Irish Script on Screen
( DIAS): images and description of Leabhar Breac. *Atkinson, Robert (ed. and tr.). ''The Passions and the Homilies from Leabhar Breac: Text, Translation, and Glossary''. Todd Lecture Series II. Dublin, 1887
Edited text available online from CELT
*''Betha Phatraic'' "Life of St Patrick" (Leabhar Breac pp. 24b-29b), ed. and tr. Whitley Stokes, ''Three Middle-Irish Homilies''. Calcutta, 1877
Text edition
an
translation
available online from CELT. *''Rule of the Céli Dé'' (9b-12b), ed. E.J. Gwynn. In ''The Rule of Tallaght.'' Hermathena 44, Second Suppelement. 1927. *Greene, David and Frank O’Connor (eds. & trs.). ''A golden treasury of Irish poetry, A.D. 600 to 1200''. London: Macmillan, 1967.

External links

Scéla. Catalogue of medieval Irish narratives & literary enumerations
*

', ed. R.I. Best. *

', ed. K. Meyer. *

', ed. K. Meyer. *

', ed. T.P. O’Nolan. * '
Die Kreuzeslegenden im Leabhar Breac - Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung de Doctorwuerde
' (in German) By Gustav Schirmer, St. Gallen, 1886 {{DEFAULTSORT:Leabhar Breac, An Irish manuscripts Royal Irish Academy Library Medieval literature