Muircheartach mac Pilib Ó Ceallaigh (Maurice O'Kelly; died 1407 or 1409) was

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 ...

in Ireland, and

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of the literary compilation ''An

Leabhar Ua Maine Leabhar Ua Maine (also Leabhar Uí Dubhagáin, Book of Uí Maine, Book of Hy-Many and RIA MS D ii 1) is an Irish genealogical compilation, created c. 1392–94. History Previously known as ''Leabhar Uí Dubhagáin'', after Seán Mór Ó Du ...

''. He was a son of Pilib Ó Ceallaigh, and a brother to William Buidhe Ó Cellaigh, King of Uí Maine and

Chief of the Name The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan ( Irish and Scottish Gaelic: ''fine'') in Ireland and Scotland. Ireland There are instances where Norman lords of the time like ...

(died ).

Leabhar Ua Maine

While

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 ...

, Ó Ceallaigh commissioned the work known as ''

'', written by ten scribes in Uí Maine before 1392 and after 1394. It includes a series of metrical

dindsenchas ''Dindsenchas'' or ''Dindshenchas'' (modern spellings: ''Dinnseanchas'' or ''Dinnsheanchas'' or ''Dınnṡeanċas''), meaning "lore of places" (the modern Irish word ''dinnseanchas'' means "topography"), is a class of onomastic text in early Irish ...

, An

Banshenchas ''An Banshenchas'' (literally "the woman lore") is a medieval text which collects brief descriptions of prominent women in Irish legend and history into a poetic narrative. Unlike much of early Irish literature, ''An Banshenchas'' may be attrib ...

, poems, genealogies and pedigrees. The largest single section is devoted to the origins and genealogies of the Ó Cellaigh dynasty of Ui Maine, its contents updated to the time of compilation. There were ten scribes, eight of whom are anonymous. It remained in the possession of the O'Kelly family till 1757.

Archbishop

Ó Ceallaigh has been described as "a learned and witty prelate" and was in favour with the Pope.Henry Cotton (1850)
''The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies in Ireland''
volume IV, p. 9. He was elected archbishop of Tuam in the summer of 1392, but not translated from Clonfert until 26 January 1393. He died 29 September 1407 or (according to Cotton) 1409.

References

* ''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 * ''Compilations of lore and legend: Leabhar na hUidhre and the Books of Uí Mhaine, Ballymote, Lecan and Fermoy'', John Carey, in Bernadette Cunningham and Siobhán Fitzpatrick (eds), ''Treasures … '', Dublin, 2009, pp. 17–31. *

External links

''Annals of the Four Masters''
CELT: The Corpus of Electronic Texts Archbishops of Tuam 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Christian clergy from County Galway Bishops of Clonfert 1407 deaths 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland {{Medieval-bishop-stub