Ádhamh Cúisín, Irish

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...

and

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their Lineage (anthropology), lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family ...

, fl. c. 1400.

Life and career

Ádhamh Cúisín is the name of one of some ten scribes who compiled the ''Book of Uí Mháine''. His name seems to be of Norman origin, the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

noting that King

Ruaidrí Ó Gadhra Ruaidrí Ó Gadhra (died 1256) was an Irish king of Sliabh Lugha and Chief of the Name. During Ruaidrí's lifetime the territory of Sliabh Lugha was conquered by the Sheriff of Connacht, Jordan de Exeter (died 1258), ancestor of the Clan Mac Si ...

Sliabh Lugha The Kings of Sliabh Lugha were rulers of the district of Sliabh Lugha located in what is now the barony of Costello, County Mayo, Ireland. The Sliabh Lugha area was originally part of Gailenga but by the 12th-century was separately called Sliab ...

was killed in 1256 by ''"David, son of Richard Cuisin."'' The ''

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, commenc ...

'' under 1270 records that ''"The Earl and the Connacht Galls made great raids in Tirerrill on the people of Aed O Conchobair. David Cusin was killed on this raid."'' David Cuisin or Cusin possessed a castle and land near

Ballaghaderreen Ballaghaderreen () is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It was part of County Mayo prior to 1898. It is in the north-west of the county, near the borders with counties Mayo and Sligo, just off the N5 road. The population was 2,387 in the 2 ...

. Another bearer of the name was Tomás Cúisín, listed under 1462 in the ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, 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 Luin� ...

'' as "the best master of law in his time in

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

who had a great school in this year." It is unknown if either of the latter two were related to Ádhamh. Ádhamh Cúisín has been noted by Ó Muraíle as "the most prolific of the scribes in the portion of the manuscript that still survives – his hand appears on 99 of the extant

folios 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 made ...

). The manuscript was known to contain 368 folios in the 15th and 16th centuries. Two hundred and fifty years later,

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, histo ...

transcribed a seventy-page historical-genealogical compilation called ''Seanchas Síl Ír''. His source can be shown to be the ''Book of Uí Mháine''. Mac Fhirbhisigh's faithful transcript is especially valuable as four of the original fourteen folios have since been lost. The book began to be written some time before 1392–1394, and some time after that date. It was written at the behest of Muircheartach Ó Cellaigh, who was

Bishop of Clonfert The Bishop of Clonfert () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clonfert in County Galway, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title; but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with oth ...

(1378–1393) and

Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ) is an Episcopal polity, archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Cathol ...

till his death in 1407. Bishop Ó Cellaigh was a grandnephew of Uilliam Buidhe Ó Cellaigh, king of

Uí Mháine , often Anglicised as Hy Many, was one of the oldest and largest kingdoms located in Connacht, Ireland. Its territory of approximately encompassed all of what is now north, east and south County Galway, south and central County Roscommon, an ...

from about 1349 to 1381. The only other scribe of the book known by name is Faolán Mac an Ghabhann na Scéal, who died in 1423. Mac an Ghabhann's poem, ''Adham ar n-athair uile'', was penned by Cúisín.

References

* ''The Surnames of Ireland'',

Edward MacLysaght Edgeworth Lysaght, later Edward Anthony Edgeworth Lysaght, and from 1920 Edward MacLysaght (; 6 November 1887 – 4 March 1986) was a genealogist of twentieth-century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames built upon the work of Rev. Pat ...

, Irish Academic Press, 1978, p. 73. . * ''The Ó Cellaigh Rulers of Uí Maine – A Genealogical Fragment, c.1400'', (Part 1),

Nollaig Ó Muraíle Nollaig Ó Muraíle is an Irish scholar. He published an 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 Muraíle ...

, Journal of the

Galway Archaeological and Historical Society The Galway Archaeological and Historical Society was founded on 21 March 1900. It promotes historical preservation, as well as the study of the archaeology and history of the west of Ireland. As of January 2002, the Society had published 53 cons ...

, pp. 32–77, volume 60, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuisin, Adhamh People from County Galway People from County Roscommon 14th-century Irish writers Medieval European scribes Irish genealogists Irish scribes Irish-language writers Irish scholars and academics