LECTURES,
LECTURES
ON
THE MANUSCRIPT MATERIALS
OK
ANCIENT IRISH HISTORY
DELIVERED AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DURING THE SESSIONS OP 1855 AND 1856.
EUGENE O'CURRY, M.R.I.A., »
PROFESSOR OF IRISH HISTORY AND AHCH^OLOGy IN THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND ; 'CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OP SCOTLAND, ETC.
^e-issur.
DUBLIN: WILLIAM A. HINCH, PATRICK TRAYNOE,
29 Essex Quay.
/I fc£E£jiErQH:2QE23:.
1878.
(All rights reserved.) [
BOSTON C0LLE6K tfBRART
i34yoy
PREFACE.
If I have any regret for tlie shortcomings of the following analysis of the existing remains of our ancient literature, and the eA'idences of the literary attainments and cultivated tastes of our far removed ancestors, of the Milesian and other races, I must sincerely declare that my regret arises much more from the consciousness of my incapacity to do merited justice to my subject, than from any concern for what my own reputation must suffer, in coming before the world in so prominent a character, and with such very incommensurate c|ualifications. When the Catholic University of Ireland was established, and its staff of Professors from day to day announced in the public papers, I felt the deepest anxiety as to who the Pro- fessor of Irish History should be (if there should be one), well knowing that the only man living who could fill that im- portant office with becoming efficiency as a scholar was already engaged in one of the Queen's Colleges. At this time, hoAV- ever, I can honestly declare that it never entered into my mind that / should or ought to be called to fill this important situation, simply because the course of my studies in Irish History and Antiquities had always been of a silent kind ; — I was engaged, if I may so speak, only in underground work, and the labours in which I had spent my life were such that their results were never intended to be brought separately before the public on my own individiTal responsibility. No person knows my bitterly felt deficiences better than myself. Having been self-taught in all the little J know of general letters, and reared to mature years among an uneducated people (though a people both intelligent, and fond of learning
Tl PREFACE.
when opportunity permits them to apply themselves to it), I always felt the want of early mental training and of early admission to those great fountains of knowledge which can be approached only through the medium of languages which, though once generally cultivated in my native province, had, under sinister influences, ceased to exist in the remote part of the country from which I come, not very long before I was born. And it never occurred to me that I should have been deemed worthy of an honour which, for these reasons, I should not have presumed to seek. To say so much I feel due, not only to myself, but to the exalted and learned personages who, without any solicitation whatever on my part, overlooked my many deficiencies so far as to appoint me to the newly created Chair of Irish History and Archaeology in this National Uni- versity.
The definite idea of such a Professorship is due to the dis- tinguished scholar to whom the first organization of the Uni- versity was committed. It was that idea which suggested the necessity for this first course of Lectures, "On the,MS,Materials of Ancient Irish History", as well as for that which immediately followed it, and in which I am still engaged, " On the Social Customs, Manners, and Life of the People of Ancient Erinn"; — two preliminary or introductory courses, namely, on the two subjects to which this professorship is dedicated : on the exist- ing remains of our History, and the existing monuments of our Archaeology. For, without meaning the smallest disparage- ment to previous labourers in these fields, I found, on exa- mining their works, that, although much had been done in particular directions, and by successive writers, who more or less followed and improved upon, or corrected, each other, still the great sources of genuine historical and antiquarian knowledge lay buried in those vast but yet almost entirely unexplored compilations, which to my predecessors were inac- cessibly sealed up in the keeping of the ancient Gaedhelic, the venerable language of our country. To point out the only way to remedy this state of things, then, and if possible, by a critical analysis of the great mass of documents which still remains to , us in the ancient tongue, to open the way, — as far as lay in my
PREFACE. Vll
power, — to the necessary examination of these precious records and materials, was the scope and aim of my first course of Lectures ; those now collected in the present volume. That I have not succeeded in placing this interesting subject before the reader in as clear and attractive a form as it deserves, is but too painfully apparent to myself; but if I shall have suc- ceeded in drawing the attention of the student to the necessity of making an independent examination of it for himself, I shall have attained one of the dearest objects of my life, and I shall feel that I have not struggled wholly without success in endeavouring to do my duty to my country so far as it lies in my power to do at all. As to the work itself, its literary defects apart, I may claim for it at least the poor merit of being the first effort ever made to brino- within the view of the student of Irish History and Archaiology an honest, if not a complete, analysis of all the materials of that yet unwritten story which lies accessible, indeed, in our native language, but the great body of which, the flesh and blood of all the true History of Ireland, remains to this day unexamined and un- known to the world.
Under the existing circumstances of this jjoor dependent country, no work of this kind could well be undertaken at the expense of the time and at the risk of a private individual. This difiiculty, however, so far as concerns remuneration for labour, and expense of publication of its result, has been happily obviated in a way that even a few years ago could hardly have occurred to the mind of the most hopeful among us. It reflects, surely, no small credit on the infant Catholic University of Ireland, and conveys no light assurance of the national feeling Avhich animated its founders from the begin- ning, not only that it was the first public establishment in the country spontaneously to erect a Chair of Irish History and Archaeology, but that it has provided with unhesitating libe- rality for the heavy expense of placing this volume — the first fruits of that Chair, and the first publication undertaken under such auspices — before the public.
Little indeed did it occur to me on the occasion of my first timid appearance in that chair, that the efforts of my feeble
Vm PREFACE.
pen Tvould pass beyond tlie walls within which these Lectures were delivered. There was, however, among my varying audience one constant attendant, whose presence was both em- barrassing and encouraging to me, — whose polite expressions at the conclusion of each Lecture I scarcely dared to receive as those of approbation, — but whose kindly sympathy practically exhibited itself, not in mere words alone, but in the active encouragement he never ceased to afford me as I went along ; often, for example, reminding me that I was not to be uneasy at the apparent shortness of a course of Lectures, the prepara- tion of which required so much of labour in a new field ; and assuring me that in his eyes, and in the eyes of those who had committed the University to his charge, quantity was of far less importance than accuracy in careful examination of the wide range of subjects which it was my object to digest and arrange. At the conclusion of the course, however, this great scholar and pious priest (for to whom can I allude but to our late illustrious Eector, the Eev. Dr. Newman), — whose warmly felt and oft expressed sympathy with Erinn, her wrongs and her hopes, as well as her history, I am rejoiced to have an op- portunity thus publicly to acknowledge, — astonished me by announcing to me on the part of the University, that my poor Lectures were deemed worthy to be published at its expense. Nor can I ever forget the warmth with which Dr. Newman congratulated me on this termination of my first course, any more than the thoughtfulness of a dear friend with which he encouraged and advised me, diiring the progress of what was to •me so difiicult a task, that, left to myself, I believe I should soon have surrendered it in desj)air.
With respect to the subjects treated in the following pages, a glance at the Table of Contents of the Chapters formed by these Lectures (see page xiii), will best explain the plan followed in this attempt to analyse the contents of the whole body of MSS. in the Gaedhelic language, the investigation of which must form an indispensable preliminary to the accurate study of the History of the country. I need not recapitulate here ; nor need I again refer to the importance of every separate
PREFACE. IX
section into wliicli such an analysis divides itself. It will be found, however, that of all the writers who have published books on the subject, up to the time of delivering these Lectures, — books, some of them large and elaborate, — not one ever wrote who had previously acquired the necessary qualifications, or even applied himself at all to the necessary study, without which, as I think I have established beyond a doubt, the History of Ireland could not possibly have been written. All were ignorant, almost totally ignorant, of the greater part of the records and remains of which I have here, for the first time, endeavoured to present a comprehensive and in some sort a connected account. And even though this volume will not, I know, be found as satisfactory to the student as it might be made in other hands ; yet such, nevertheless, appears to me to be the want of some guide to so vast a mass of materials as that which still lies buried in our Irish jMS. Libraries, that I trust it will be foiind in this respect at least to fulfil the intention of the University Ai;thorities when they determined to undertake the publication.
This first volume, this first course of Lectures, has been ex- clusively devoted to an account of the available materials actu- ally existing in MS. for the preparation of a General History of Erinn. The succeeding course, already alluded to, will necessarily be considerably greater in extent ; and if I am enabled to realize the hope of placing that course also before the public in a future volume (or rather volumes, for it will demand, I fear, at least two such as this), it will be found to be ' ^ the complement of the present. It embraces the detailed ex- \^' amination of: — 1° the system of Legislation, and Government, ^J in ancient Erinn; 2° the system of ranks and classes in\ a- Society; 3° the Religious system (if that of Druidism can be >^ so called) ; 4° the Education of the people, with some account of their Learning in ancient times ; 5° the Military system, including the system of Military Education, and some account of the Gaedhelic Chivalry, or Orders of Champioais ; 6° the nature, use, and manufacture of Arms used in ancient times ; 7° the Buildings of ancient times, both public, military, and domestic, and the Furniture of the latter ; 8° the materials
X rREFACE.
^nd forms of Dress, as well as its manufacture and ornamenta- tion ; 9° tlie Ornaments (including those of gold and other metals) used by all classes, and their manufacture ; 10° the Musical Instruments of the Gaedhelic people, with some account of their cultivation of Music itself; 11° the Agriculture of ancient times, and the implements of all sorts employed in it ; 12° the Commerce of the ancient Gaedhil, including some account of the Arts and Manufactures of very early times, as well as of the nature and extent of the intercourse of the people with traders of other nations ; and 13° their Funeral Rites, and places of Sepulture. Of these great divisions of my present general course, I am happy to say that all but the last three have been completed, and that the Lectures forming these are now nearly ready for the press, — should the public reception of this first volume be so indulgent as to permit me to hope that the remainder may be allowed to appear in turn.
I cannot conclude these prefatory remarks without bespeak- ing the attention of my readers to two important features in the present volume which I trust will be found to possess no little value. I allude to the very extensive Appendix ; and to the interesting series of Fac-Si3IILES, which will be found at the end.
In the Appendix I have not only given in full the original text of every one of the very numerous quotations from the ancient Gaedhelic ]\ISS. referred to and translated in the text, — (extracts which will, I hope, be found useful and convenient to the student at a distance from our libraries, both as authorities and as examples also of the language, the records quoted being compositions of almost every age duringmany centuriesback), — but also many original pieces of great importance, not hitherto published, which I have endeavoured to edit fully with trans- lation and notes/*^^ Besides these, I have there collected also se- veral separate notes andmemoranda upon various subjects, which
. Ca) The end of the Appendix (p. 644,— App. No. CLVII.), I have thought it right to insert a statement respecting the Irish MSS. at St. Isidore's, in Rome, drawn up, since tliese Lectures were delivered, for the Senate of the University. It will be found to contain some interesting matter in connection with tlic subject of this volume.
PREFACE. XI
could not properly have been introduced in the course of the Lectures themselves. The preparation of this Appendix has cost me, I may almost say, as much labour as that of the entire text ; and it has been a chief cause of the great delay which has taken place in the publication of the book.
In the series of Fac-Similes (the addition of which was adopted on the suggestion of my learned colleague and friend, Dr. W. K^ O'Sullivan), I have taken advantage of the oppor- tunity presented by the publication of a general work on our early MSS. to lay before the learned in other countries a com- plete set of examples of the handwriting of the best Gaedhelic scribes, from the very earliest period down to the century before the last. For this purpose I have for the most part selected my examples from those passages which have been quoted in the text, and of which the original Gaedhelic will be found in the Appendix, in order that scholars may be able to compare the contracted writing with the full sentences as I have expanded them. But I have also inserted several examples (as in the instances of the earliest Latin ecclesiastical MSS., one of which is, I believe, contemporary with St. Patrick, and three of which are attributed to the very hand of St. Colum Cille), from writings which are mentioned indeed, but which there was no occasion to quote in the course of the Lectures. These fac-simi!es have been executed with admirable correct- ness in the establishment of Messrs. Forster, lithographers, of this city. I can confidently recommend them to Continental scholars as perfect representations of the handwriting of various ages ; and I hope they may be found of some practical use, not only in the identification of Gaedhelic MSS. yet hidden in foreign libraries, but also in the determination of the ages of the MSS. with which they may be compared. They will be found to be arranged in chronological order.
I have to apologize for the length of time which has elapsed from the first annoixncement of this book to its publication, as well as for the many errors, of print and others, which will be detected in it, but most of which will be found corrected at the end of the volume. Those, however, who are aware of the
Xn PREFACE.
crushing succession of domestic afflictions and of bodily infir- mities with which it has pleased Providence to visit me during the last three years, will, I am sure, look with indulgent eyes on these defects, as well as on those concerning which I have already confessed and asked pardon beforehand.
In conclusion, I have only to acknowledge the deep obliga- tions under which I am placed by the kindness of many emi- ment literary friends in the preparation of this volume. Among these I cannot but warmly thank, in particular, the learned Secretary of the Brehon Law Commission, the Very Rev. Charles Graves, F.T.C.D., Dean of the Chapel Royal, for much of kind consideration and many valuable suggestions ; the Rev. James H. Todd, S.F.T.C.D., President of the Royal Irish Academy, to whom, with my last named friend, the revival of Irish literature owes so much, and whose countenance and cordial assistance to me have been for so many years of inestimable value ; my dear friends, John Edward Pigot, M.R.I.A., and Dr. Robert D. Lyons, M.R.I A., from whom I received most valuable assistance in the plan and original pre- paration of these Lectures ; and to the former of whom I owe, in addition, the untiring devotion of the vast amount of time and trouble involved in the task his friendship undertook for me of correcting the text, and preparing for, and passing through the press, the whole of this volume ; and my able and truly learned friend, Mr. Whitley Stokes, who prepared for me the references to the MSS. quoted by Zeuss (pp. 27, 28 of this volume), the only new passage, I believe, which has been introduced into the text of the following Lectures since their . delivery.
Eugene O'Cuert.
Dublin, December 15, ISfO.
CONTENT S.
LECTUKE I. Introduction. Of the Lost Books, etc., . . 1 — 28
Natural reverence for ancient monuments and records, 1 .— Neo:lect of Antiquarian inquiry in Ireland, 2. — Elevated rank of men of learning under the ancient Irish law, 2. — Great antiquity of literature in Erinn, 3. — Of literature in ancient Erinn before the time of St. Patrick, 4. — Loss of the earlier -writings, and its causes, 5. — Neglect of the language in more modern times, 6. — Literature, nevertheless, encouraged by the native chieftains, even after the loss of national independence, 6, 7. — Of the Lost Books of Ancient Erinn, 7. — The Cuilmenv, 8. — The Saltair of Tara, 9. — Poem by Cuan O'Lochain, 10. — The Book of the Ua Chong-
bhaiJ, 13. — The Cin Droma Snechta, 13. — Its author, 13, 14 The Senchus Mdr,
or Great Book of Laws, 16. — Account of a private library (that of St. Longarad, of Ossory) in tlie 6th century, 17. — The Book of St. Mochta, 19. — The Book of Cuana, 19. — The Book of DiM dd Leithe, 19. — The Saltair of Cashel, 19. — List of the Lost Books recorded, 20 — Lost Books extant in Keating's time, 21. — Lost Books knoAvn totheO'Clerys, 21, 22.— The Irish MSS. in the library of Trin. Coll., Dublin, 23.— MSS. in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, 24.— Irish MSS. in the Library of the British Museum, and in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, 25.— Other Collections of Irish MSS. in England, 25.— Irish MSS on the Continent — Brussels, Paris, Rome, etc., 20. — Irish MSS. referred to in the Gram- matica Cellica of Zeuss, 27.
LECTUKE II. Op the Earliest Existing MSS., . . . 29—51
Account of the Cuilmenn, 29 and 41. — Of tlie recovery of the Tale of the 2'din Bo Chuailgn^, 29. — Account of the Tain Bo Chiailgne, 30. — Personal descriptions in this ancient tale, 37, 38. — Mythical and legendary inventions introduced into it, 39. — Historical value of this tale, 40. — Authorship of the Saltair of Tara, 42. — Account of King Cormac Mac Airt, 42. — Personal description of King Cormac, 44, 45. — Laws and legal writings of the reign of Cormac, 46.— Of the Book of Acaill, 47. — Cennfalad " the Learned", 48.
LECTURE III. Of the Early Historic Writers. The Ancient Annals, 52—73 List of the principal Annals, 52.— Of the earlier Chronologists and Historians, 53.— The Synchronisms of Flann of Monasterboice (11th century), 53. — The Chronological Poem of Gilla Caemhain, 55.— Of Tighernach, the Annalist, 57 and Gl. — Account of the Monastery of Clonmacnoise, and of its foundation by St. Ciaran (6th century), 58. — Of the Annals of Tighernach, 62. — The Chro- nological Poem of Eochaidh O'Flinn, 69. — Account of the foundation of Emania, B.C. 405 (taken by Tighernach as the starting point of credible Irish History), 70. — The Destruction of Emania by " the Three CoHas" (a.d. 331), 72.
XIV CONTENTS.
LECTUEE IV. The Ancient Annals (continued), . . , 74—92
Continuation of the Annals of Tighemach, 74. — Of the Annals of Innisfallen, 75 and 79. — Of the monastery of Inis Faithlenn, in Loch Lein (Killarney), 75. — Of MaelsuthaiH 0' Cearbhd'dle (secretary and counsellor of Brian Borumha), 76. — Legend concerning him, 76. — Of the so-called Annals of Boyle, 81 (and see 105). — Historical writers of the 12th, 13tli, and 14th centuries, 82. — Of the Annals of Ulster, 83.
LECTURE V. The Ancient Annals (continued), . . . 93—119
Of the Annals of Loch Ce (improperly called the " Annals of Kilronan"), 93. — Account of them, 100. — Extracts and examples, 101. — Account of the Battle of Magh Shcht (a.d. 1256), 101.— Of the Annals of Connacht, 104 and 113.— Of the Annals of Botle, 105. — Of the use of the Annals as materials for his- tory, 119.
LECTURE VI. The Ancient Annals (continued), . . . 120—139
Of the Chronicum Scotorum, 120 and 126. — Of the life and death of Dubhaltach Mac Firbisigh of Lecain (Duald Mac Firbis), and of his Book of Pedigrees, 120-122. — His various works, 123. — Of the Books of Lecain, and the Mac Firbis family, 125. — Title and Preface of the Chronicum Scotorum, 127. — Of the Annals of Clonmacnois, 130. — The Story of Queen Gormlaith, 132. — Address and Dedication of the Annals of Clonmacnois, 135-6. — Authorities quoted by the translator, 137.
LECTURE VII. The Ancient Annals (continued), . . 140—161
Of the Annals of the Four Masters, 140, and 145, and 155. — Of the " Con- tention of the Bards", 141. — Account of the O'Clerys, 142. — Colgan's account of the " Four Masters", and particularly of Michael O'Clery, 143. — Dedication of the Annals of the Four Masters, 146. — The " Testimonium", 147. — Of the Chro- nology adopted by the Four Masters, 151. — Mistake of Moore in his " History of Ireland", 153. — Anecdote of Moore, 154. — Of the race of Fergal O'Gara (to whom
the Annals are dedicated), 157 Of the published editions of these Annals,^159. —
Of the splendid edition by Dr. John O'Donovan, published by Mr. George Smith, 160-1.
LECTURE VIII. The Works of the " Four Masters", . - 162—180
Of O'Clery's Succession of the Kings, (^Rp.im Rioghraidh^), 162. — Preface to this work, 163. — Dedication and Address to the Reader, 164, 165. — Of O'Clery's Book of Invasions (Zeo6Aar Gahhdla), 168. — Dedication to it, 168. — Preface, or
Address to the Reader, 169 Of the other works of Michael O'Clery, 173.— The
O'Clery MSS. in Belgium, 174.— Of Michael O'Clery's Glossary, 175.— Dedication to it, 175.— Preface or Address to the Reader, 176. — Of the writings of Cucoig- chriche (called " Peregrine") O'Clery, 178.
LECTURE IX. Of THE CHIEF existing Ancient Books, . . 181—202
Of the old MSS. still existing, 181-2. — Of the Leabhar na h-Uidhre (Book of the Dun Cow, of St. Ciaran), 182. — Of the Book of Leinster, 186. — Of the Book of Balltmote, 188. — The Leabhar Mor Duna Doighre, called Leabhar Breac), 190, (and see also p. 352). — Of the Yellow Book of Lecain, 190. — The Book of Lecain, 192.— Of the principal vellum MSS. in T.C.D., 192.— Of the MSS. in the Library of the R.I.A., 195.— Of the Book of Lismore, 196.— Of the MS. books of Laws (called in English the "Brehon Laws'', 200-201.
CONTENTS. XV
LECTURE X. Or the Books of Genealogies and Pedigrees, 203—228
Of the system of official record of the Genealogies, etc., in ancient Erinn, 203-4. — Credibility of the antiquity of our Genealogies, 205. — Actual historical account of them, 205-6.— Of the IMilesian Genealogies, 206-7.— The Lines of Eber and Ere-
mon, 207 The Iriah and Ithian races, 207. — Of the Eremonian Pedigrees, and of
Ugaine Mnr, 207-8. — Of the Dalcassians, and the Eoghanachts of Munster, 208. — Genealogy of the O'Briens, and other Munster clanns, from Oilioll Oilum, 208-0, — Genealogy of the Dalcassians, from Cormac Cas, 213. — Of the importance of the recorded Genealogies under the ancient law, 213-14. — Family names first intro- duced (circa a.d. 1000), 214.— Distinction between a " Genealogy" and a " Pedi- ' gree", 214. — Form of the old Genealogical Books, 215. — Mac Firbis' Book of Genealogies, 215. — Title and Preface of it, 216. — Ancient Poem on the charac- teristics of different races, 224.
LECTURE XI. On the Existing Ancient Histories. The Historic Tales, 229-250 Of the existing pieces of detailed History in the GaedheUc language, 229. — The History of the Origin of the Boromean Tribute, 230.— The History of the Wars of the Danes with the Gaedhil, 232. — The History of the Wars of Thomond, 233.— The Book of Munster, 237.— Of THE HISTORIC TALES, 238. — Nature of the compositions, 239. — Of the education and duties of an Ollamh, 239. — Of the authority of the " Historic Tales" as pieces of authentic history, 241. — Of the classes into which they are divided, 243. — 1° of the Catha (or Battles), 243.— Tale of the " Battle of Ma<jh Tuireadk", 244.— Tale of the Battle of Magk Tuireadh of the Fomorians, 247.
LECTURE XII. The Historic Tales (continued), . . . 251-272
2° Of the LoNGASA (or Voyages) ; Tale of the Voyage of Lahhraidh Loingseach, 251-2. — Of the Music and Musicians of ancient Erinn, 255. — 3° of the TpoHLA (or Destructions), 258. — Tale of the " Destruction of the Bruighean Da DtrgcC\ 258.— Tale of the " Destruction of the Bruighean Da Choga", 260.-4° Of the AiRGNE (or Slaughters), 2 60. — Tale of the " Slaughters of Congal Cldringnach", 260-1.— Tale of the Revolt of the Aitheach Tuatha (called the "Attacotti' or " Attacots"), 262-3.-5° Of the Forbasa (or Sieges), 2G4-5.— Tale of the " Siege of Edair" (Howth), 265. — J.2V/*«V?ie'" the importunate", 266.— Tale of the " Siege of Droin Damlighaire", 271. — Druidism, 271.
LECTURE XIII. The Historic Tales (continued), . . 273—295
6° Of the Oitte, or Aideadha (Tragedies, or Deaths), 273. — Tale of the " Death of Conchohhar Mac Nessa", 273-4.— Tale of the " Death of MaelJartJia- tach Mac Ronain", 277.-7° Of the Tana (or Cow-Spoils), 277.— Tale of " the Tain BdChuailgne", 277-8. — 8° Of the Tochsiarca (or Courtships and Espousals), 278. — Tale of the " Courtship of Eimer'' by Cuchulainn, 278. — Of the several other celebrated Tales of " Courtships", 282-3. 9° Of the Uatha (or Caves), 283. — References to several celebrated Tales concerning Caves, 283.-10° Of the Echtrai (or Adventures), 283.— References, 283.-11° Of the Sluaigheadha (or Military Expeditions), 284. — Tale of the " Expedition of DatJii to the Alps", 284.-12° Of the Imramha (or Expeditions by Sea), 288.- Tale of the " Expedi- tion of the Sons of Ua Corra'\ 289. — Of the remaining classes of Historic Tales : " Fessa" (Feasts or Banquets) ; " Aithidhe" (or Elopements) ; " Serca" (Loves, or
XVI CONTKNTS,
Love-stories); " Tontha Ikina" (Lake-Irruptions); '• Tochomlada' (Immigrations of Colonies) ; " Fis" (or Visions), 294-5.
LECTURE XIV. Or the Imaginative Tales and Poems, . . 296-310
Of the Ancient Imaginative Tales and Poems, and of the use to be made of them
in serious Historical investigation, 296. — Of the Fenian Poems, 299 Of the
Poems, etc., ascribed to Oisin (or Ossian), 300 and 30t. Classification of the Eenian Poeims and Tales, 301. — Poems ascribed to Fin7i Mac Cumhaill, 302. — Of Oisin (or Ossian), and the Poems ascribed to him, 304. — Poems ascribed to Fergus '■' Finnbha6iV\ son of Finn, 306 — Poems ascribed to Caeilte Mac Ronain, 306. — Of the " Agallamh na Seandrach" (or " Dialogue of the Ancient Men"), 307. — The Story of Cael O'Neamkain and the Lady Credhi, 308.— Description of an ancient mansion and its furniture, 309. — Of other Fenian Poems, 3 12. — Of the Fenian Tales in Prose, 313. — Tale of the "Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainn^",
313.— Tale of the " Battle of Finntragkd" (or Ventry Harbour), 315 Tale of
the "Flight of the Slothful Fellow", 316. — Reference to several other ancient Imaginative Tales, 318.— Reference to the " Three Sorro'w'ful Tales of Erinn", 319. LECTURE XV. Of the Remains of the Early Christian Period, 320 — 338 Ancient Erinn called the " Island of the Saints", 320.— Nature of the existing remains of the early Christian period in Erinn, 321.— Ancient copies of the sacred writings, 321.— Of the " Domhnach Airgid", and its shrine, 322. — Of the Cathach, and its shrine, 327.— Of the relic called the Cuilefadh of Saint Colum CUM, 332.— Of other relics called by this name, 334-5. — Of various other shrines, (MS.)relics, 335.— Of the ancient Reliquaries, Bells, Croziers, Crosses, etc., still preserved to us, 336. LECTURE XVI. Of the early ecclesiastical MSS., . . 339—354
Of the early Lives of the Saints of Erinn, 339 (and see 358).— Of the writings of Colgan and Keating, 351. — Saint Adamiuuis Life of Saint Colum CllU, 342. — Saint Place's Life of SaintPatrick, 343.— The Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick,344. — Of the Contents of the Leahhar Mdr Duna Doighre (called the Leahhar Breac), in the R I A., 352. — Of the study of the ancient " Martyrologies", and other ancient Ecclesiastical MSS , in the GaedheUc, 353. LECTURE XVII. Of the Early Ecclesiastical MSS. (continued), 355—371 Of the causes of the loss and dispersion of Irish Ecclesiastical and Historical MSS. during the last three centuries, 355. — Analysis of what remains of the most impor- tant of the Ecclesiastical MSS., 357.— Lives of the Saints of Erinn, 358.— Of the Pedigrees and Genealogies of the Saints of Erinn, 358. — Of those ascribed to Aengus Ceile D^, 359.— Of the " Martyrologies", or " Festologies", 360.— Of the Saltaij na Eann, SGO. — Of the Martyrology of MaehnuireUa Gonnain (Marianus Gorman), 361.— Of the Martyrology of Tamhlacht, 362.— Of the Felire (or Festo- logy)of Aengus CeiU De, 363.— The " Canon" oiFothat " na Canoine", 364 — The Invocation from the Felire of Aengus, 365. LECTURE XVIII. Of the Early Ecclesiastical MSS. (continued), of the so-called " Prophecies", ..... 372 391 1° of the Canons, 372.— Of the connection of the Church of St. Patrick with the Holy See, 373.— li" Of the Ecclesiastical and Monastic Rules, 373.-3° Of an Ancient Treatise on the Mass, 376.-4° Of an Ancient Form of the Consecra- tion of a Church, 378.-5° Of ancient Prayers, Invocations, and Litanies, 378.—
CONTENTS. XVU
3° Of ancient Prayers, Invocations, and Litanies, 378. — The Fraj'er of Saint Aireran " the Wise", 378-9. — The Prayer of Coign Ua DuinecIida,B7d — Ancient Litany of the Blessed Virgin, 380.— The Litany of Aeng us CelM De, 380.— Of the so-called " Prophecies" ascribed to the Saints of Erinn, 382 — Of the so-called " Prophecies" anterior to the time cf Saint Patrick, 383. — Of the " Prophecy" in the Dialogue of the Two Sages" {AgaUamh an dd Shi(adh),S83. — Of the "Pro- phecies" ascribed to Conn of the Hundred Battles (the Bade Chainn, etc.), 385. — Of the " Prophecy" ascribed to King Art " the Lonely", 391.
LECTUEE XIX.— Of the so-called " Prophecies" (continued), . 392—41 1
Of the "Prophecies" ascribed to Finn Mac CumhaiH, 392. — Of the Legend of Finn's " Thumb of Knowledge", 396. — Of the " Prophecy" of the coming of Saint Patrick attributed to the Druids of King Laeghaire, 397. — Of the " Prophecies" ascribed to the Saints of Erinn, 398 — Of the "Prophecies" of Saint Cadlin, 398— Of the " Prophecies" of Beg Mac Be, 399.— Of the " Prophecies" of Saint Colum CilU, 399. — Of the apocryjihal character of the so-called " Prophecies", 410.
LECTURE XX. Of the so-called " Prophecies" (continued), 412 — 434
Of the " Prophecies" of St. Berchdn, 412. — " Prophecy" ascribed to St. Bricin, 418. — "Prophecy" ascribed to St. Moling, 419. — Of the "Prophecy" ascribed to Sedna (Gth century), 422. — Of the "Prophecy" ascribed to Mae/tamhlac/ita, 423. — Of the " Prophecies" concerning the Fatal Festival of Saint John the Baptist, 423.— Dishonest use made of forged and pretended "Prophecies", 430-1. — Giral- dus Cambrensis and John De Courcy, 432 — Sir George Carew, 434.
LECTURE XXI. Recapitulation. How the History of Erinn is to re
■WRiTrEN ....... 435 — 45S
Recapitulation, 435. — Of the various writers on the History of Erinn, 441. — Moore's "History of Ireland", 441. — Keating's History, 442. — Mac Geogliegau's History, 442. — " Cambrensis Eversus" (Lynch), 443. — The History of Erinn must be written on the basis of the Annals, 443. — Of how to set about a History of Erinn, 444. — Of the ancient traditions concerning the Milesian Colony, 446. — Of the Cruithneans, or Picts, 450. — Of the reign of Ugaine Mdr, i5\. — Of the reign of Lahraidh Loingseach, 452. — Of the reign of Conaire Mdr, 453. — Of Con- chobhar Mac Nessa, 453. — Of the Revolution of the Aitheach Tuatha (or " At- tacots"), 453. — Of the reign of Conn'''- Ccad-CathaclC (Conn "of the Hundred Battles"), 453.— Of the reign of Niall "■ Naoi-Ghiallacli" {Niall "of the Nine Hostages"), 454. — Of lung Batld, 454. — Of the use to be made of the " Historic Tales", the Monumental Remains, and the Ecclesiastical MSS., 454-456. — Of other miscellaneous materials for a History of Erinn, 456. — Of the necessity for the study of the Gaedhelic language; and of the want of a Dictionary, 457. — Conclusion, 458.
APPENDIX ....... 461—643
APP. No. I. (P. 2). Of the Fili and Filidecht . . .461
APP. No. II. (P. 4). Of writing in Erinn before St. Patrick's time . 463
Of the Oghum character, and its uses, 464. — Of the Tale oi Bai!^ Mac Buain, 464.— Inscribed Tablets before the time iii Art (a.d. 166), 466 and 470 — Cormac Cuilennain versed in Oghum, 468. — Of the Tale of the Exile of the Sons of Duil Dermait (circa a.d. 1), 468. — Of the Tale of Core, son of Lughaidh (a.t>. 400), 469. — O'FIaherty on the Use of Letters in ancient Erinn, 409. — Of Cuchorb, 480,
2*
XVlll CONTENTS.
Tale of BaiU Mac Buain (original, with translation and notes) . 472
Poem by Ailbhe, daughter of Cormac Mac Airt (circa a.d. 260), original, with translation and notes), ..... 476
Poem on the Death of Cuchorb, by Mead/M, daughter of Conn " of the Hundred Battles" (B.C. 1) (original, with translation, and notes), . . 480
APP. No. III. (P. 5). T/a-ee Poems by Dubhthach Ua Lugaiu {Chief Poet of the Monarch Laeghaire, a.d. 432), on the Triumplis of Enna Censelach, and his son Crimthann, Kings of Leinster (original, with translation and notes), 482
APP. No. IV. (P. 8). Original of Passage concerning the Cuilmenn, from the Book of Leinster, ...... 494
APP. No. V. (P. 9, and 31). Original (unth translation') of Passage in an ancient Law Glossary explaining the " Seven Orders of Wisdom^' {under the title Caog- DAcn), ....... 494
APP. No. VI. (P. 10). Original of Passage in Poem of Cuan Ua Lochain, on Tara, referring to the Saltair, ..... 496
APP. No. VII. (P. 11). Original of passage from the "Booh of the Ua Cong- bhail", referring to the Saltair, ..... 496
APP. No. VIII. (P. 12). Original of Passage from Keating, referring to the Saltair, ....... 497
APP. No. IX. (P. 13). Original of reference to the Cinn Droma Snechta in the Books of Ballymote and Lecain, ... - 497
APP. No. X. (P. 13). Original of second reference to the same in the Book of Lecain, ....... 497
APP. No. XI. (P. 14). Original of third reference to the same in the Book of Lecain, ....... 497
APP. No. XII. (P. 14). Original of reference to the same, in Keating, . 498
APP. No. XIII. (P. 14). Original of j^assage in the Book of Leinster concerning the CiN Droma Snechta, ..... 498
APP. No. XIV. (P. 15,16). Pedigree of DvAcn Ga-lxcu, King of Contiacht {in the early part of the 5th century'), ..... 498
APP. No. XV. (P. 15). Original of second re/e?-eHce ^o ?Ae Cin Droma Snechta, in Keating ; and original (ivith translation) of corresponding passage in the Uraich- echt, in the Books of Ballymote and 'Lecain, . . . 501
APP. No XVI. (P. 15). Original of second i^dssage in the Book of Leinster, con- cerning the same, ...... 501
APP. No. XVII. (P. 17). Original of T'^erse (and Gloss) from the Felire Aengusa, referring to the Library o/Longarad (temp. St. Colum Cille), . . 501
APP. No. XVIII. (P. 29.) OJ Letha, the ancient name for Italy in the Gaedhelic, ....... 502
APP. No. XIX. (P. 32). Original of jxissage concerning the Cuilmenn, in the Leabhar Mor Duna Doighre, ..... 504
APP. No. XX. (P. 32). Original of passages concerning the same in two ancient Glossaries (74, R.I.A. ; and H. 3, 18, T.C.D.), . . .504
APP. No XXL (P. 36). Of the Ben Sidhe ("Banshee"), \_Sidh.—Fersidhe.— Bensidhe'], ....... 504
APP. No. XXII. (P. 38). Original of Description of the Champion, Eeochaid Mac Fathemain, /ro??i the ancient Tale of the Tain Bo Chuailgne, . . 506
CONTENTS. XIX
APP. No. XXIII. (P. 38). Oriyinal of Description of the Champion Fergna,, from the same, . . . . . . . 50G
APP. No. XXIV. (P. 38). Origi7ialqf Description of Prince 'Etc, from the same, 506 APP. No. XXV. (P. 41), Of the date of the Tain Bo Chuailgne (iviih extracts, in orifinal, ivith translation of passages from the MS. H. 3. 17., T.C.D., and the Book of BaUijmote), ...... 507
APP. No. XXVI. (P. 44). Original of Description of Cormac Mac Airt at the
Assembly of Tara ; from the Booh of Ballymote, . . . 510
APP. No. XXVII. (P. 47). Original of commencement of Preface to (lie Book of
AcAiLL (in the MS. E. 5, T. C.D.J, attributed to King Cormac Mac iVirt, . 511
APP. No. XXVIII. (P. 49, and 51). Original of remainder of same, . 512
Original of another version of the latter portion of this passage (from the MS. H. 3. 18., T.C.D.), 513.— Poem, by Cinaeth O'Hartigaiu (a.d. 973), from the Book of Ballymote (original, and translation), 513-14. APP. No. XXIX. (P. 56, 57). Original of two passages concerning Flann ofMonas-
terboice (fro7n TigheiURch, and from 0' CTer^'s Leabhar Gabhala), . 516
APP. No. XXX. (P. 58). Original of entries in the Chronicum Scotorum, and in the
Annals of Ulster, of the death o/TiGnERNACH (a.d. 1088), . r 517
APP. No. XXXI. (P. 58 to 60). Of the Foundation oj Clonmacnoise, . 517
APP. No. XXXII. (£. 63, and 67). Of the Fragment of an ancient vellum copy of the Annals of Tighernach, bound up with the Annals of Ulster, in the Library of Trin. Coll. Dublin, ...... 517
Letter from Eev. J. H. Todd, P.R.I.A., to Mr. Curry, upon this Fragment, 517. Original of the entire passage containing the sentence " Omnia Monumenta Sco- torum", etc., from the copy of tlie Annals of Tighernach in T.C.D. (H. 1. 18.), 519. — Original of version of same in the R. I. Academy MS. (33. 6.) 519 note. — Original of version of same passage as given by Dr. O'Conor, 519 note. — Original of Ballymote, 520. — Of the second tract of Synchronisms in same Book, attributed to Flann, by the Venerable Charles O'Conor of Ballynagar (with translation of parallel passage in an ancient tract of Synchronism in the Book), 520-21. — Of Ti- ghernach's authority for the sentence in question, 521. — Euchaidh O'Flinn, 521- 22. — Of the Synchi'onisms in the Book of Lecain, 522. — Flann's Poems, 522-23. — Quatrain identifying the author of the Poems (original and translation), 523. APP. No. XXXm. (P. 64). Original of stanza of Maelmura, quoted by Tigher- nach, ....... 524
APP. No. XXXIV. (P. 64). Original of another ancient stanza quoted by Tigher- nach, and Extract from Dr. 0' Conor's account of the T.C.D. copy o/ Tigher- nach, •••.... 524
APP. No. XXXV. (P. 68). Of King Eochaidh Bdadhach, . . 526
APP. No. XXXVI. (P. 68). Original of an Entry in Tighernach, as to the Kings of Leinster, ••..... 526
APP. No. XXXVII. (P. 70). Original of commencement of Poem (ascribed to Gilla
an Chomdedh Ua Cormaic) in the Book of Leinster, . . 526
APP. No. XXXVIII. (P. 70). Original {ivith Translation) of the account of the
Foundation of the Palace o/Emain Macha, or Emania (from the Book of Leinster), 520 APP. No. XXXIX. (P. 75). Original of Entry in the Annals of Tighernach (at A.D. 1405), concerning the Continuator of these Annals, . . 529
XX CONTENTS.
APP. No. XL. (P. 70). OriyinaloJ legendary account o/Maelsuthain O'Cearbhaill, o/Inis Faithleun, in Loch Lein {Innisfalkn, Loioer Lake of Killarney), from the LiBEu Flavds Fergusiordm, ..... 529
APP. No. XLI. (P. 7(i). Contents of the Liber Flavus Fergusiorom (a.d. 1437), 531 APP. No. XLII. (P. 84). Original of entry in the Atasxus of Ulster, concerning the
Death of the original compiler, 'Mac Mixghnusa (a.d 1498), . . 533
APP. No. XLIII. (P. 85). Orig'nal oj two Memoranda in T.C.D. copy of the Annals OF Ulster (H. 1. 8), . . . . • • 533
APP. No. XLIV. (P. 90, 92). Of the commencement of the MS. called the Annals of
Ulster, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin (H. 1. 8), . . 534
APP. No. XLV. (P. 94). Original of Memorandum inserted in the T.C.D. copy of the Annals of Loch Ce (a.d. 1061), .... 534
APP. No. XLVI. (P. 94j. Original of second Memorandum in same (a d. 1515), 534 APP. No. XLVII. (P. 94). Original of third Memorandum in same (ad. 1581), 534 APP. No. XLVIII. (P. 94). Original of fourth Memorandum in same (a d. 1462), 534 APP. No. XLIX. (P. 95). Original of entry (at a.d. 1581) in Fragment of Continua- tion of the Annals of Loch Ce, in the Brit. Museum i and of Note ctppended thereto, by Brian j\[uc Dermot, Chief of Magh Luirg, . . . 534
APP. No. L. (P. 96). Original of entry of Death of Brian Mac Dermot (a.d. 1592), in the Annals of the Four Masters, .... 535
APP. No. LI. (P. 102). Original of entry in Annals of Loch Ce, at a.d. 1087, 535 APP. No. LIL (P. 101). Original of eiitryuisanie, at A.T). [087, . ■ 535
APP. No. LIIL (P. 101). Original of account of the Battle of Magh Slecht (a.d. \25^), from the Annals of Loch Ce, .... 536
APP. No. LIV. (P. 102). Original (and translation') of passage in the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick concerning the Idol called Cenn Cruaich, or Crom Cruach, and the Plain of Magh Slecht, ..... 538
APP. No. LV. (P. 102). Original of Memorandum at the end of the T CD. copy of the Annals of Connacht (H. 1. 2.), . . . . . 539
APP. No. LVI. (P. 109). Original of Memorandum in the Brit. Museum copy of the
so- ca//ef/ Annals OF Boyle, (under year 1594), . . . 639
APP. No. LVII. (P. 111). Oiiginal of Second Memorandum in same, . 536
APP. No. LVIII. (P. 111). Original of third Memoratidum in same, . 540
APP. No. LIX. (P. 112). Original of passage in O'Donnel's Life of Saint Colum
C///e(2. 52. R.L A.), ...... 540
APP. No. LX. (P. 115). Original of entry in the Annals of Connacht, at a.d. 1464; and Original of abstract of same in the handwriting of the Venerable Charles 0'' Conor of Ballynagar, ...... 540-1
APP. No. LXI. (P. 1 1 5). Original of Corresponding entry in the Annals of Loch Ce (H. 1. 19., T.C.D.), ...... 541
APP. No. LXII. (P. 121). Original of Title of Mac Firbis Book of Pedigrees and Genealogies, . . . . . . .541
APP. No LXIII. (P. 126). Original of description oftheLiauguration of the O'Dowda, in the Book (f Lecain. ...... 542
APP. No. LXIV. (P. 127). Original of Title, and conunencement of Preface, of the CuRONicoM Scotoruji, ..... 542
APP. No. LXV. (P. 127). Original of a Note, by Mac Firbis, in the Chronicum Scotorum, . . . . . . .113
CONTENTS. XXI
APP. No. LXVI. (P. 12;'). Original of Memotandum in the Chronicum Scotordm
(a.d. 722), explaining a deficiencg thare, . . ; .643
APP. Ko LXVII. (P. 146). Original of Dedication of the Annals of the Four
Masters, ....... 543
APP. No LXVIII. (P. 147). Original of Testimonium of the Annals of the Four
Masters, .....•• 543
APP. No. LXIX. (P. 15S). Of the succession of the Chiefs of the O'Gara Family,
from A D. 932 to 1537 ; from the Annals of the Four Masters, . , 5i6
APP. No. LXX. (P. 163). Original of O'Clerfs Preface to the Eeim Riograidhe,
(^succession of the Kings), from the R I.A. MS. (40, 4), . . 548
APP. No. LXXI. (P. 164). Original of O'Clery's Dedication to the same, . 550
APP. No. LXXII. (P. 165). Original of 0''Clerys Address to the Reader, prefixed
tothesameU'-omtheT.C.'D.'M^.; Yl. i.Q), . . .551
APP, No. LXXIII. (P. J 63). Original of O'Clery^s Dedication to the Leabhar
Gabhala (Boot of Invasions), from the T.CD. MS. (H. 1. 12), . . 552
APP. No. LXXIV. (P. 169). Original of O'Clerfs Address to the Header, prefixed
to the same (from a copy in the Library of the R.I. A., made in 1685), . 554
APP. No. LXXV. (P. 175). Original of Title and Dedication of O'Clerx's Glos- sary, ....... 557
APP. No. LXXVI. (P. 1 76). Original of Address to the Header, prefixed to the same, 558 APP. No. LXXVII. (P. 178). [Erroneous reference as to List of Contractions, etc.] 560 APP. No. LXXVIII. (P. 178). Original (and Translation) of the Last Will of
Cuchoighcriche O'Clery (^called Cucogry, or Peregrine O'Clej-y), . 560
APP. No. LXXIX. (P. 179). Original (and Translation) of Two Poems by Cu-
coighcriche O'Clery, ..... 562
APP. No. LXXX. (P. 182). Origiwd of Two Memoranda in the Leabhar na
H-UiDHRE (concerning the history of that celebrated MS.), . . 570
Note concerning Conchobhar, the son of Aedh O'Donnell (ob. a.d. 1367), 570, note. APP. No. LXXXI. (P. 183). Original of entry in the Annals of the Foitr
Masters (a< A.D. 1470), ... . . 570
APP. No. LXXXII. (P. 184.) Original of entry in same Annals (at a.d. 1106), 571
APP. No. LXXXIII. (P. 1S4). Original of a Memorandum in the Leabhar na
H-UlDHRE, ....... 571
APP. No. LXXXIV. (P. 186) Original of a Memorandum in the Book of Leinster, 571 APP. No. LXXXV. (P. 187). Original of a second Memorandum in the same, 571
Al'P. No. LXXXVI. (P. 1 95). [Apology for not giving a complete List of the MSS.
in the Libraries of the R I A. and of Trin. Coll. Dublin], . . 571
APP. No. LXXXVII. (P. 216). Original of Title and Introduction to Mac Firbis' Book of Genealogies, ..... 572
Original (and Translation) of ancient Poem on the celebrated Builders of ancient times, 577. Original (and Translation) of ancient Poem on the Characteristics of the various Races in Erinn, 580. Original (with Translation) of ancient Toem on the Characteristics of various Nations, 580. APP. No. LXXXVIII. (P. 243). Original (and Translation) of passage, concerning
the Historic Tales, m the Book of Leinster, . . . 583
APP. No. LXXXIX. (P. 243). Original (and Translation, with Notes), of the List of the Historic Tales, in the Book of Leinster, . . 584
XXn CONTENTS.
APP. No. XC. (P. 276). Of the Place of the Death- Wound of Conchobbar Mac Nessa, ....... 593
Original Cancl Translation) of Note, by Michael O'Clery on this subject, 593.
APP. No. XCI. (P. 293). Original oj Stanza of a Poem by Saint Mocliolinog, about the Ua Corra ; from the Book of Fermoy, . . . 593
APP. No. XCII. (P. 302, 303). Original of the first lines of Six Poems attributed to Finn Mac Cumhaill, ..... 594
APP. No. XCIII. (P. 306, 307). Original of the first line of Poem attributed to Fergus FiNNBHEOiL; and of first line of Poem attributed to Caeilte Mac Konain (^from the UlNNSEANCHUS), ...... 591
APP. No. XCIV. (P. 308, 311). Original of passage (poem) from the Agallamh na Sean&rach, concerning Gael Ua Neamnainn and the Lady Credhi (from the Book OF Lismore), ...... 594
Original (and Translation) of Prose passage from the same, 597.
APP. No. XCV. (P. 315). Of the ancient Monuments called Cromlech, . 598
APP. No. XCVI. (P. 325). Original of passage in the " Tripartite Life" oJ Saii.t Patrick, concerning the Domhnach Airgid, . - . 598
APP. No. XCVII. (P. 329, 330). Original of first stanza of the Prayer of Saint Cohan Cille (from the Yelloiu Book of Lecain) ; and Original (and Translation) of passage concerning the Cathachfrom 0''DonnelVs Life of Saint Colum Cille. 599
APP. No. XCVIII. (P. 331.) Original of Inscription on the Shrine of the Cuthach, 599
APP. No. XCIX. (P. 334). Original oj entry in the Annals of Tighernach (a.d. 1090), as to the Cdilefadh, ..... 599
APP. No. C. (P. 335). Original (and Translation) of reference to a Cuilefadh of Saint Emhin, in a MS. of a.d, 1463, in the R.I.A. (43. 6.), . . 599
APP. No. CI. (P. 33G). Oiiginal (and Translation) of passage concerning the Mios- ach, from the Yellow Book o/Lecain, .... 600
APP. No. CII. (P. 338). Of the Belie called the Bachall Isu, or •' Staff of Jesus," 601 Original (and Translation) of the account of the ancient tradition respecting this relic in the " Tripartite Life" of St. Patrick, Gal. — Remarks of the Rev. Dr. Todd, P.R.I.A , upon the accounts of this Relic, 602. — Original (and Translation) of passage concerning it in the Annals of Loch Ce', 604. — Original (and Translation) of passage concerning it in the Annals of the Four Masters, 605.
APP. No. cm. (P. 343). Original (and Translation) of Stanza in Poem by Saint Fiacc (alluding to the desertio?i of Tara), .... 606
APP. No. civ. (P. 344.). Original (and Translation) of passage in the " Tripar- tite Life" of Saint Patrick (concerning the chariot of Saint Patrick), . 606 Original (and Translation) of passage concernuig the same in the Book of Armagh, 607.
APP. No. CV. (P. 346). Oviginal of entry at the end of the "Tripartite Life", 608
APP. No. CVI. (P. 347). Original (and Translation) of passage alluding to Saint Ultan in the " Tripartite Life", .... 608
Original of passage from Tierchan's Annotations, in the Book of Armagh, 608.
APP. No. CVII. (P. 350). Origimd of concluding words of First Part of the Tri- . partite Life, ...... 609
APP. No. CVIII. (P. 350). Original (and Translation) of observations, by the original writer, on the opening passage of the Third Part of the " Tripartite Life" of St. Patrick, ...... 609
CONTENTS. XXlll
APP. No. CIX. (P. 360). 0)-i(jinal of Two Lines of the spurious Sai,taiu tixUANti;
and of the First Line of same Poem ("Brit. Mus. ; MS. Eg. 185.), . 009
APP. No. ex. (P. 362). Original of the Tivo First Lines of the Martyrolocjij of
Maelmuire Ua Gormain (MS. vol. xvii., Bury. Lib., Brussels), . 609
APP. No. CXI. (P. 363). The Pedigree o/ Aengus Ceile De (from the Leabhar
Mor Duna Doighre, c«//ec? //ie LeabharBreac), . . . 610
APP. No. CXII. (P. 364). On^riHw/ o/ /Ac " Canon" o/ Fothadh, . 010
APP. No. CXIII. (P. 365). Original of the Livocation from the Fe-liris A-EifiGUSX, 610 APP. No. CXIV. (P. 367). Original of First Stanza (Jan. 1) of the Felire
Aengusa, . . . . . . .611
APP. No. CXV. (P. 368), Original of Stanza of the Felire Aengusa at
March 17, . . . . • • .611
APP. No. CXVL (P. 308). Original of Stanza of same at April 13 (Festival of
Bishop Tassach), . . . . . .611
APP. No. CXVII. (P. 373). Original (and Translation) of the " Canon of Saint
P«</iH", from the Book OF Armagh, . . . . 613
Translation of this Canon by Archbishop Ussher, 012. APP. No. CXVIII. (P. 374). Original of last sentence of the"'RvLB of Saint
Colum Cille", ...... 613
APP. No. CXIX. (P. 376). Original of Extract from an Ancient Treatise hy way
of Exposition of the Mass ..... 013
APP. No. CXX. (P. 378, 379). Original of commencements of Invocations in the
Prayer of Saint Aireran " the Wise", .... 614
APP. No. CXXI. (P. 379). Original of explanation of the word Oirchis, or Air-
chis, in an ancient Glossary (H. 3, 18, T.C.D.), referring to the Prayer of Saint
Aireran "i/ic Wise", ...... 015
APP. No. CXXII. (P. 379,' 380). Original of commencements of the First and
Second Parts of the Prayer of Co-LGV \jADviSEcm3A, . . 615
APP. No. CXXIII (P. 380). Original of commencement of an Ancient Litany
OF THE Blessed Virgin, ..... 015
APP. No. CXXIV. (P. 381). Original (and Translation) of commencement of the
Litany of Aengus Ceile De, ..... 015
Original (and Translation) of Poem ascribed to St. Brigid, 616. APP. No. CXXV. (P. 383). Origincd of passage in the Agallamh An da
Shdagh, ....... 616
APP. No. CXXVI. (P. 386). Original of two passages in the Baile Chuinn, 617 APP. No. CXXVII. (P. 386, 387). Original of passage in the " Tripartite
Life" of Saint Patrick, quoted from the Baile Chuin (as to the wore? Tailcenn), 617
Of the word Tailcenn, Tailginn,ov Tailgenn, 617. — Original (and Gloss) of Expla- nation of it from the Senchus Mdr (MS. H. 3, 17, T.C.D.), 617.— Original (and
Translation) of passage in the ancient Tale of the Bruighean Da Derga, 618. APP. No. CXXVIII (P. 387). Original (and translation) of ancient account of the
Baile an Scail ('' Ecstary of the Champion") ; from MS. Harl. 5280, Brit. Mus., 018 APP. No. CXXIX. (P. 389, 390). Original of stanza referring to the same, in Poem
by Flann ; and original of first line of same Poem, . . . G22
APP. No. CXXX. (P. 391). Original of first line of " Prophetic'" Poem ascribed to
Art ^^ the Lonely", son of Coiii^, ..... 622
XXIV CONTENTS.
APP. No. CXXXI. (P. 392). Original (and Translation) of heading and commence- ment of a "Fropuecy" ascribed to Finn Mac CnmhuiU, . . 622 Note on the " Flag-stone, or "Rock of Patrick'', 623-4,
APP. No. CXXXIi. (P. 395). Original of stanzas in one of the " Ossianic Poems'", co?!^rt('rt«V/ a "Prophecy" asc?-i6ec? <o Pinn Mac Cumhaill, . , 624
APP. No. CXXXIII. (P. 397) Original of stanza, containing the "Prophecy" attri- buted to the Druid of King Laeghaire' (from the " Tripai-tite Life"), . 622
APP. No. CXXXIV. (P. 399). Original of first line of ^' Prophetic Poem" attributed to Beg Mac De, ..... . 622
APP. No. CXXXV. (P. 399). Original of first sentence of the "Prophecy" attri- buted to Beg Mac De, ...... 622
APP. No. CXXXVI (P. 400). Original of stanza of a " Prophecy", attributed to Saint Colum Cille, quoted in the Wars of the Danes (Book of Leinster); and of first verse oj same Poem (from MS. H. 1, 10., T.C.D.), . . 625
APP. No. CXXXVII. (P. 401). Original of Stanza o/Maolin 6g Mac Bruaideadha (Mac Brodg), referring to the same "Prophecy"; (quoted in the Annals of the Four Masters, at A.D. 1599), ..... 62G
APP. No. CXXXVIII. (P. 40G). Original of first stanza of a second "Prophetic'' Poem, attributed to Sai?it Colum Cille, .... 626
APP. No. CXXXIX. (P. 407). Original of first line of a third (like), . 626
APP. No. CXL. (P. 409, 410). Original of first stanzas of three other "Prophetic' Poems, and of the first line of another, attributed to the same Saint, . 626-7
APP. No. CXLI. (P. 412, 413, 414, 416). Original of three stanzas of a Poetical "Prophecy", ascribed to Saint Berchan ,• of the first stanza of same Poem; of the IQth stanza ; of the \2th stanza ; and of the ^Ith stanza of th& same, . 627 8
APP. No. CXLII. (P. 417). Original of first line of a second "Prophetic" Poem attributed to Saint Berclian, ..... 62S
APP. No. CXLIII. (P. 417). Original of rose quoted by Ferfessa 0' Clerigh from from a so-called " Prophecy" of Saint Berclian (from the Annals of the Four Masters, about A.D, 1598), ..... 628
APP. No. CXLIV. (P. 417). Original of first stanza of a "Prophetic" Poem, attri- buted to Saint Berchan (but believed to have been written by Tadhg O'Neachtain, about AD. 1716), ...... 62S
APP. No CXLV. (P. 420). Original of commencement of the'Bxii.% Mholing (/?-07« the Yellow Book of Lecain), ..... 629
APP. No. CXL VI. (P. 422), Original of first stanza of the so-ccdled ' ' Prophecy" of Sedna, ....... 629
APP. No. CXLVII. (P. 423). Original of first line o/Poem (by DonnellMac Brody, circa 1570), referring to the same " Prophecy", . . . 629
APP. No. CXL VIII. (P. 423). Original of first words of the so-called " Prophecy", attributed to Maeltamhlachta. ..... 629
APP. No. CXLIX. (P. 423). Original of passage f-om the Life of Saint Adamnan (from the MS. vol. XL, 4190-4200, Burg. Lib. Brussels), . . 629
APP. No. CL. (P. 424). Original of the " Vision" of Saint Adabinan from the Leabhar Mor Duna Doighre, called the Leabhar Breac), . . 630
APP. No. CLI. (P. 425). Of the Pestilences called the Buidhe Chonnaill, and the Crom Chonnaill, ...... 630
Original (and Translation) of passage in ancient Life of Saint Mac Creich^, 631-2.
CONTENTS. XXV
—Original (and Translation) of two stanzas from a curious Poem in the same Life, 632.— Note on the word Crom, 632.
VPP. No. CLII. (P. 426). Original of passage in the Leabhar M&r Duna Doighre {called the Leabliar Breac), concerning the Scuap a Fanait, . . 632
yPP. No. CLIII. (P. 429). Original oj Note on the Scuap a Fanait, in the Felire Aengusa ( from the same book), .... 634
\.PP. No. CLIV. (P, 431, 432). Original of two passages from Giraldus Cam- brensis Q^ Hibernia Expugnata") concer7iing "Fropuecies" forged for the use of John De Courci/ and others of the invaders, . . • 635
\PP. No. CLV. (P. 434). Original of stanza of a pretended " Prophecy" g-MOfec? bi/ Sir George Carew in 1602 from the Careiu MSS., Lambeth Lib., London'), 637
\PP. No. CLVI. (P. 453). Of the accounts of the celebrated King of Ulster, CoN- CHOBHAR Mac Nessa ...... 637
Original of entry of tiie Death of Conchobhar Mac Nessa in the Annals of TiGHERNACH (a.d. 33), 638. — Original (and Translation) of the Account of the Death of Conchobhar Mac Nessa from the Historic Tale of the "Aided Conco- bair" (" Tragic Fate of Conchobhar''), preserved in the Book of Leinster, 638, — Original (and Translation) of Keating's account of it, 642. — Original (and Translation of distich, with Gloss, from Poebi by Cinaeth O'Hartagdin (ob. 973), 643,
A.PP. No. CLVII. (Note to Preface, P. x.) Statement relative to the Irish MSS. of the College of St. Isidore, at Rome, drawn up for the information of their Lordships the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland, and laid before them by the Senate of the Catholic University of Ireland, in \^5d. .... 64:4
EXPLANATIONS OF FAC-SIMILES. .... 649—663
FAC-SIMILES OF THE AnciExNT MSS. . . . [opp.p. 664
(A.) MS. in the " Domhnach Airgid", [R.I.A.]. (temp. St. Patrick ; circa a.d. 430.)
(B.) MS. in the " Calhach". (Gth Century. MS. attributed to St. Coluin CilU.)
(C.) " Book of Kells", [T.C.D.]. (Gth Century. MS. attributed to St. Colum CilU.)
(D.) "Book of Durrow", [T.C.D.]. (6tJ Century. MS. attributed to St. Colum Cilll)
(E.) Memorandum in " Book of Burrow", [T.C.D.]. (6th Century.— att. to St. C. C.)
(F.) Memorandum in " Book of Durrow", [T.C.D.]. (6th Century.— att. to St. C. C.)
(G.) " Book of Dimma'\ [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 620.)
(H.) "Book of Dimitia", [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. C20.)
(I.) " Book of Dimma", [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 620.)
(J.) Memorandum in "Book of Dimma'\ [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 620.)
(K.) "Book of Dinnna", [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 620.)
(L.) " Book of Dimmer, [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 620.)
(M.) Evangelistarium of St. Moling, [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 690.)
(N.) Evangelistarium of St. Moling, [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 690.)
(0.) " Book of Armagh", [T.C.D.]. (a.d. 724.)
(P.) " Rook of Armagh", [T.C.D.]. (a.d. 724.)
(Q.) " Lil)er Hymnorum", [E. 4. 2. ; T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 900.)
(R.) Entry in "Book of Armagh", [T.C.D.]. (made temp. Brian BoroimM, a.d. 1004.)
(S.) ''Leabhar na h-Uidhre", [R.I.A.]. (circa a.d. 1100.)
(T.) " Book of Leinster", [H. 2. 18. ; T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 1130.)
(U.) " Book of Leinster", [H. 2. 18.; T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 11-30.)
(V.) MS. in Trim Coll. Dubl., [H. 2. 15.]. (a.d. 1300.)
(AV.) Entry in ''Leabhar na h-Uidhrff', [R.I.A.], (by Sigraidh O'Cuirnin, a.d. 1345.)
(X.) " Book of Ballymote", [R.LA.]. (a.d. 1391.)
(Y.) " Book of Ballymote". [R.I.A.]. (a.d. 1391.)
(Z ) " Book of Ballymote", [R LA.], (a.d. 1391.)
XXVI CONTENTS.
(AA.) " Yellow Book of Lecain", [H. 2. 16. ; T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 1300.)
(BB.) " Yellow Book of Lecain", [II. 2. 16 ; T.C.D], (circa a.d. 1390.)
(CC.) " Leabhar M6r Duna Doighrff\ (called " Leahhar Breac"), [R.I.A.]. (circa a.d 1-tOO.)
(DD.) '■'■ Leahhar Mdr Duna Doighrff\ [R.I.A.]. (circa a.d. 1400.)
(EE.) '■'■Leabhar Mdr Duna Doighr&\ [R.I. A. J. (circa a.d. 1400.)
(FF.) MS. in Roy. Ir. Acad. [H. & S. 3. 67.] (circa a.d. 1400.)
(GG.) MS. in Roy. Ir. Acad. (Astronom : Tract ; circa a.d. 1400.)
(HH.) MS. in Trin, Coll. Dubl. [H. 2. 7.] (circa a.d. 1400.)
(II.) " Book of iecam", [R.I.A.]. (A.D. 1416.)
(JJ.) "Book of Lecain", [R.I.A.]. (a.d. 1416.)
(KK.) " Book of Lecain", [R.I.A.]. (a.d. 1416.)
(LL.) " Liber Flavus Fergusiorum". (a.d. 1434.)
(MM.) " Book of Acaiir, [E. 3. 5. ; T.C.D.]. (circa ad. 1450.)
(NN.) "Bookof Fermoy". (a.d. 1463.)
(00.) MS. in Roy. Ir. Acad. [43. 6.] (a.d. 1467.)
(PP.) Entv^f m Leahharnah-Uidhri,\'R.l.k.\. (a.d. 1470)
(QQ.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dubl. [H. 1. 8.]. (loth Century.)
(RR.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dubl. [H. 1. 8.]. (15th Century.)
(SS.) " Book of Lismore". (15th Century.)
(TT.) Memorandum in Leabhar Mdr Duna Doighri, [R.I.A.]. (circa a d 1.500.)
(UU.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dubl. [H. 3. 18.]. (a.d. 1509.)
(VV.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dubl. [H. 1. 8.]. (16th Century.)
(WW.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dubl. [H. 3. 17.]. (15th & ICth Cent.)
(XX.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dubl. [H. 1. 19. J. (a.d. 1580.)
(YY.) Handwriting of Michael O'Clery, [Vellum MS. ; R.I.A. J.
(ZZ.) Signature of Michael O'Clery, [VelUim MS. ; R.I.A. J.
(AAA.) Handwriting of Cucogry O'Clery, [Vellum MS. ; R.I.A.].
(BBB.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dubl. [H. 1. 18. ; T.C.D.]. (a.d. 1650.)
(CCC.) Handwriting of Duald Mac Firbis, [H. 1. 18. ; T.C.D.]. (a d. 1650.)
(DDD.) Handwriting of Michael and Cucogry O'Clery, [Paper MS. ; R.I.A.].
(EEE.) Handwriting of Conairi O'Clery, [Paper MS. ; R.I.A.].
(FFF.) Handwriting of John O'Donovan, LL.D., M.R.I.A. (1861.)
(GGG.) Handwriting (small) of Eugene O'Curry, M.R.I.A. (1848.)
(HHH ) Handwriting (large) of Eugene O'Curry, M.R.I.A. (1848.)
GENERAL INDEX ...... 6G5— 72
LIST OF ERRATA AND CORRECTIONS.
Page 3, line 32; for " Gaedhlic", read " Gaedhilic" (as well wherever it may
occur as here). ,, 3, note 5, line 3 ; for " Gaelic", read " Gael". ,, 4, Hne 6 ; for " recent", read " more recent".
„ 36, note, line 2 ; for " land immortality", read " land of immortality". „ 38, line 19 ; for " His is Eeochaid'\ read " He is Reochaidk'\ ,, 70, line 1; for " GiUa-an-Chomdech", read " GiUa-an-Chomdedh'\ „ 70, line oi ; for " Einlialn Macha'", read " Emhain Mhacha". „ 7G, line 23 ; for " about 1002", read " in 1004". „ 94, last line but two; for " Daniel", read "David".
„ 101, line 18 ; for " Connchair% read " Conachail".
,, 111, line 34 ; for " Roscommon", read " Galway".
„ 118, line 15 ; for " submersis", read " submersus".
„ 120, last line; for " Tir-FldachradK\ read " Tir-Fhiachrach" .
„ 146, hne 27; for " Gaed/dr, read " GacdheV.
„ 147, line 4 ; for " Tead(jK\ read " Tadlup.
„ 148, line 9 ; for " was a guardian", read " was guardian".
„ 158, line 18 ; for " they year 1200", read " the year 1200".
„ 169, line 4 ; for " Brien Roe", read " Brian Ruadh".
„ 171, line 1 ; for " Fiontain", read " Fiontcm". „ „ line 30; for Ua'Cfwiir/hail", rea,d Ua Chonghbhad".
„ 176, line 30; for '^ Nekle the profound in just laws", read '■' Ntidhe W\q
profound, and Ferchertne".
„ 189, line 27 ; for " Luaidet", read " Luain€".
„ 214, line 24 ; for " Tad(jK\ read " Tadhf.
„ 217, hne 3 ; for " Benn-chair\ read " Bennchair".
„ 219, line 24 ; for " 0' Ca}ian)is'\ read " 0' Canannans" .
„ 243, line 13 ; for "Amrath", read " Anroth".
„ 250, line 26 ; for " Meagh", read " Mag]i'._
„ 251, last line ; for '■^ Moriadh", read " Moriath'\
,, 264, line 8 ; for " Fiacha Finnolaidh", read " Feradhach, the son of
Fiacha Finnolaidh". ,, „ line 9 ; for " i^tac/iw"," read " -Feraf/AacA".
,', 277, line 39 ; for " Grayhounds", read " Greyhound".
„ 301, line 36; for FiimhheoUr, read " Finnbheod'\
„ 302, line 36 ; for " ancient lost tract", read " ancient tract''.
„ 303, line 12 ; for " chean", read " cheann". „ „ line 24 ; for " Drean", read " Deaif.
„ 304, line 5 ; for " Snaelt", read " Suaelt".
„ 319, line 1; for " Dull Dearmalrt", read " Duil Dearmaif. „ „ line 8 ; for " Lear", read " Lir".
„ 336, line 24; for '-Torloch", read " Conor" [see " Cambrensis Eversus",
published by the Celtic Society; vol. ii., p. 397].
„ 340, line 28 ; for " Cinn", read " Cenn".
'., 363, last hne but four ; for " three quatrains", read " four quatrains".
„ 369, last line but four; '' Monaf and '' Faronis", though so written in
the original text, must be read "Moses" and "Pharaoh". " John",
too, in this passage, should, of course, be " Paul".
XXVlll ERRATA
Page 404, line 33 ; for " Maranacli'\ read " Mearanach".
„ 429, line 33 ; for " in 664", read " in the year 664".
„ 431, line 16 ; for " wordly", read " worldly".
„ 442, line 12 ; for " Protestant"', read " local".
„ 480, note 21 ; for " Mdet\ read " Mdir\
„ 488, line J9 ; for " -petx, iia -ivM-pec", read " ye]\ ha nAi|\ec".
„ 496, line 21 ; for " funn", read" -puim". „ „ line 32 ; for "i:[oci\u<.\ic1iJ", read " [•f]oc|\uaicTi".
„ 498, line 4; for " mliAjoj", read "111 h Agog".
„ 503, line 35 ; for " hand", read " band".
„ 508, last line but one ; for " NeicUie", read " Neidhi".
„ 509, note 85 ; for " when", read " where".
„ 518, line 20; for " ocuf ", read " ocuf". „ „ line 24; for " ixegnAfe", read " -pegriAjxe".
„ 5-21, line 29 ; for " two hundred", read " one hundred".
„ 522, hne 4 ; for " 200", read " 100".
„ 523, line 1 ; for " coiAgiMbAin", read " co]\|'5]MbAni".
„ 520, line 24 ; for " hAnnj-Atii", read " hAnnfA".
,, 535, line 29 ; for " f iii", read " pp".
„ 542, line 1 7 ; for " -ooic a'oo", read " •ooicA "oo".
„ 551, line 17 ; for " teAjceoiyvA", read " LeAjco^iA".
„ 652, line 10 ; for " lAA-pi", read " f aia". „ „ line 28 ; for "-ooiiiAn", read "■ooiiiAiri".
„ 553, line 2; for " tiom", read " tiom".
„ 556, line 2 ; for "^veAncufd", read "-peAnciifA".
„ 558, line 14 ; for " ciu\iiiiAij\", read "ciiAtAniAi|\". ,, „ line 17 ; for " iAecb", read " lAecib". „ „ luie 34; for " niei'o", read " tiiei-o",
„ 500, last line ; for " cipgceix", read " cipjce^A".
„ 562, line 34 ; for " from M.S.S." read " from a MS."
„ 563, last line but 7 ; for '• Connacht", read " Crmichau".
„ 570, line 9; for " Achnni-onigAt)", read "Aclitmi'onijd'o".
,, 574, line 18 ; for " Vipcit\ci\e", read " |:'l^cn\ctie".
„ 576, last line but 6 ; for " ha", read " iia".
„ 581, line 6 ; for " Britons", read " true Britons".
„ 581, line 21 ; for " mbiiAA-oAn", read " rtibbiA-oAn". „ „ line 37; for "leAriAitiinA", read " beAnAihiiA".
„ 582, line 25 ; for " cmeA-o", read " cinneA-o".
„ 590, last line of last note; for " H. 8. 17. TC.D.", read " H. 3. 18.
T.C.D ".
„ 597, line 21 ; for " kings", read " king".
„ 598, last line but 2 ; for " JAn", read " gAti".
,, 599, line 21 ; (no comma after the word cAbAijAc).
„ 600, line 29; for " UlakW\ read " Uladh".
„ 601, line 15 ; for " ocu]'", read " ocuf".
„ 602, line 9 ; (quotation should end with inverted commas).
„ 605, line 29 ; for " cccmn", read " ccinn".
„ 616, line 17 ; for " caves", read " cans".
„ 629, line 14 ; for " attributed Se-onA", read " attributed to Se-oiiA".
„ 630, line 8 ; after " Ultonians", read " were".
[In consequence of a mistake in the List furnished by the Secretary of the University to the Printer, the Dates given at the head of Lectures V. to XII. (pp. 93, 120, 140, 1C2, 181, 203, 229, 251), are incorrect; (see Note at p. 320.) Lectures V., VI., VIL, VIII., IX., and X., were in fact delivered in the Spring (March) of 18.56. Lectures XL, XIL, XIII., and XIV., and XVII. to XXI., were all delivered in the months of June and July, 1856. Lectures XV. and XVI. (in the order now printed), were in fact delivered in March, 1855, after Lect. IV., and are now restored to their proper order. Lect. V. (p. 93), as delivered (in March, 1856) opened with an explanation, now, of course, omitted, so as to take up the subject from the close of the previous Lect. the year before.]
LECTURE 1.
[Delivered 13th Mai-ol!. 18di.]
Introduction. Of Learning before S. Patrick's time. Of the lost Books, and what is known of them. 1. The Cuibnenn. II. The Saltair of Tara. III. The Book of the Uachongbhail. IV. Tlie Ciii Droma Snechta. V. The Sean- chas M6r. VI. Tiie Book of Saint Mochta. VII. Tlie Book of Guana. VIII. The Book of Dubh-da-leiihe. IX. The Saltan- of Cashel. Of the existing collections of ancient Manusci'ipts.
I BELIEVE tliat tlie tendency may 'be called a law of our nature, which induces us to look back with interest and reverence to the moniuiients and records of our progenitors ; and that the more remote and ancient such monuments and records are, the greater is the interest which we feel in them. At no period, perhaps, was this feeling of interest and reverence for the remains of antiquity more generally cherished than it is amongst the civi- lized nations of Europe in ova: own days. A desire to learn and to understand the manners, the habits and customs, the arts, the science, the religion, nay, even the ordinary pursuits, of the nations of ancient times has largely seized on the minds of living men ; and the possession of even the few relics of ancient art which have come down to our own century is deemed of great value. Of how much higher and more special interest and importance, therefore, must it be to us to under- stand the language, and through it to become acquainted with the actions, the range of thought, tlie character of mind, the habits, the tastes, and the every-day life of those to whom in our o"WTi coimtry those relics belonged, and who have perhaps taken a prominent part in the ancient history of the nations among whom such vestiges of former days have been discovered! The various subjects connected with historical and antiquarian researches in general occupy at the present moment so promi- nent a place in the literature of modern Europe, and theu' value and importance are so generally recognized, that it is unneces- sary to make any apology for undertaking here a coru'se of lec- tures such as that upon which we are now about to enter : nor is it necessary, I am sure, to point out the special usefulness in our own country, in particular, of any new attempt to develop Avhat may be learned of her early history.
1
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
Neglect of
antiquarian
inquiry.
In all otlier countries these departments of knowledge are both earnestly and industriously cultivated ; and not only in all that relates to the early state of those classic nations which have filled the most distinguished place in the history of the world, but also as regards nations of lesser prominence, where, as a matter both of natural affection and duty, the labours of the antiquarian are directed with zeal and diligence to eluci- date the early condition of his own native land.
In Ireland, however, it is deeply to be regretted that as yet we have not at all adequately explored the numerous valuable monuments, and the great abimdance of national records, wliicli have been bequeathed to us by our Celtic ancestors. But if in our days the language, history, and traditions of our country and our race, are not prized by Irishmen as they ought to be, we know that this has not been always the case. Even a limited acqviaintance with oiu' manuscript records will suffice to show us how the national poet, the historian, and the musician, as well as the man of excellence in any other of the arts or sciences, were cherished and honoured. We find them indeed '-: from a very early period placed in a position not merely of independence, but even of elevated rank; and their persons and property declared inviolate, and protected specially by the law. Thus, an Ollamh,'-^^ or Doctor in Filedecht,^^' when ordained by the king or chief, — for such is the expression used on the occasion, — was entitled to rank next in precedence to the monarch himself at table. He was not permitted to lodge, or accept refection when on his travels, at the house of any one
I
(1) OttAiTi, pronounced " Ollav".
(2) It is very difficult to find an adequate translation in the English language for the words •pl.e'oecc Qwonounced nearly "fillidecht", — the cA guttural), and Vile (which is pronounced nearly "fiUey"). The word P</e (the reader will observe the pronunciation), is commonly rendered by the English word "Toet": but it was in fact the general name applied to a Scholar in or Professor of Lite- rature and Philosophy; the art of composition in verse, or "Poetry", being in- cluded under the former. Perhaps the best general name to represent the File would be that of " Philosopher", in the Greek sense of the word ; but the term would be too vague as it is understood in modern English. Instead therefore of translating Filidecht " Philosophy", and File " Philosopher", the Irish Avords are retained in the following pages ; the filidecht,— in the knowledge of which the degree of OUamh was the highest, in that system of education which in ancient Erinn preceded the University system of after times,— included the study of law, of history, and of philosophy properly so called, as well as of languages, of music, of druidism, and of poetry in all its departments, and the practice of recitation in prose and verse; the word file, taken by itself, abstractedly, means generally a Poet, — but in connection with the system of learning the term is applied to a Sai (pron. " See"), in some one or more of the branches of learning included in the filedecht; so that an OUamh would be called File, and so also a Drumcli, etc. ; so also would a Ferleiyhinn, or Professor of classical learning, etc, [See also Appendix, No. L]
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 6
below tlie rank of a FlaithP' Pie, that was tlie Ollamh, was al- lect. i. lowed a standing income of " twenty-one cows and their grass" in the chieftain's territory, besides ample refections for himself learned men and for his attendants, to the nnmber of twenty -fonr ; including Erinn!'^"' his subordinate tutors, his advanced pupils, and his retinue of servants. He was entitled to have two hounds and six horses. He was, besides, entitled to a singular privilege within his terri- tory: that of conferring a temporary sanctuary from injury or arrest, by carrying his wand, or having it carried around or over the person or place to be protected. His wife also en- joyed certain other valuable privileges; and similar privileges were accorded to all the degrees of the legal, historical, musical and poetic art below him, according to their rank.
Similar rank and emohiments, again, were awarded to the Seatichaidhe,^*^ or Historian ; so that in this very brief reference you will already obtain some idea of the honour and respect which were paid to the national literature and traditions, in the persons of those who were in ancient times looked on as their guardians from age to age. And, surely, by the Irishman of the present day, it ought to be felt an imperative duty, which he owes to his country not less than to himself, to learn something at least of her history, her literature, and her antiquities, and, as far as existing means will allow, to ascertain for himself what her position was in past times, when she had a name and a civihzation, a law and life of her own.
In the present course of lectures, then, it will be my duty to endeavour to lay before you an outline of the Materials which still exist for the elucidation of our National History. For, it may be truly said that the history of ancient Erinn, as of modern Ireland, is yet unwritten ; though, as we shall see in the progress of this course, most ample materials still remain in the Gaedhlid^^ or Irish language from which that history may be constructed.
Amongst the large quantities of MS. records which have
1^3) The ptAiu (now pronounced nearly "Flah") was a Noble, or Landlord- Chief; a class in the ancient Irish community in many respects analogous to the Noble class in Germany, or in France before the Eevolulion of 1789, though the rights and privileges of the ancient Irish were by no means those of the Feudal law of the continent, which never prevailed in any form in ancient Ermn.
(■*J SeAncAix)e (now pronounced nearly " Shanchie") was the Historian or Antiquarian ; and, in his character of Eeciter, also the Story Teller.
t*'The ancient Irish called themselves 5Aei-6il, (now pronounced nearly " Gaeil"), and their language ■^dei-oetg, or Gaedhlic (pron : "Gaelic"). In modern English the word " Gaelic" is applied only to that branch of the race which forms the Celtic population of modern Scotland. But the word refers to the true name of the entire race ; and in these Lectures, accordingly, it is always used to designate the Milesian population of ancient Erinn.
1 B
4 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF AXCIENT ESINN.
LECT. I. come down to our times, will be found examples of the lite-
~ rature of very diiferent periods in our history. Some, as there
in ancient is abundant evidence to prove, possess a degree of antiquity
lain" Pa-""^^ ^^^T remarkable, indeed, when compared with the similar
tricic. records of other countries of modern Europe. Others again
have been comj)iled within still recent times. Those MSS.
which we now possess belonging to the earliest periods are
themselves, we have just reason to believe, either in great part
or in the whole, but transcripts of still more ancient works.
At what period in Irish history written records began to be kept it is, perhaps, impossible to determine at present with pre- cision. However, the national traditions assign a very remote antiquity and a high degree of cultivation to the civilization of our pagan ancestors. [See Appendix No. II.]
Without granting to such traditions a greater degree of credibility than they are strictly entitled to, it must, I think, be admitted that the immense quantity of historical, legendary, and genealogical matter relating to the pagan age of ancient Erinn, and which we can trace to the very oldest written docu- ments of which we yet retain any account, could only have been transmitted to our times by some form of written record.
Passing over those earher periods, however, for the present, and first directing our inquiries to an era in our history of which we possess copious records (though one already far re- moved from modern times), it may be found most convenient that I should ask your attention at the opening of tliis course of Lectures to the probable state of learning in Erinn about the period of the introduction of Christianity by Saint Patrick.
There is abundant evidence in the MSS. relating to this period (the authority and credibility of which will be fidly proved to you), to show that Saint Patrick found on his coming to Erinn a regularly defined system of law and ]3olicy, and a fixed classification of the people according to various grades and ranks, rmder the sway of a single monarch, presiding over certain subordinate provincial kings.
We find mention likewise of books in the possession of the Druids before the arrival of Saint Patrick; and it is repeatedly stated (in the Tripartite Life of the saint) that he placed primers or lessons in the Latin language in the hands of those whom he wished to take into his ministry.
We have also several remarkable examples of the literary eminence which was rapidly attained by many of his disciples, amongst whom may be particularly mentioned, JBenSn, or Benignus ; Mochoe ; and Fiacc, of SlehhU, or Sletty. This last
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT EEINN 0
is the author of a biographical poem on the Life of the Apostle lect. i. in the Gaedhlic language, a most ancient copy of which still ^^^^^^^^^^j^^ exists, and which bears internal evidence of a high degree of loss of the perfection in the language at the time at which it was com- ?^'g,s" ^"'" posed. And it is unquestionably in all respects a genuine and native production, quite untincturcd with the Latin or any other foreign contemporary style or idiom.
There are besides many other valuable poems and other com- positions referable to this period which possess much of the same excellence, though not all of equal ability : and among these are even a few still extant, attributed, and with much probability, to Dubthach (now pronounced " Duvach", and in the old Norse sagas spelt Diifthakr), Ua Lngair, chief poet of the monarch X«e^/iai>g (pron : nearly as "Layry"), who was uncle, on the mother's side, and preceptor of the Fiacc just mentioned."^^
It is to be remarked here that, in dealing with these early periods of Irish history, the inquirer of the present day has to contend with difficulties of a more than ordinary kind. Our isolated position prevented the contemjDorary chroniclers of other countries from oivinof to the affairs of ancient Erinn anything more than a passmg notice; while many causes have combined to deprive us of much of the light which the works of our own annalists would have thrown on the passing events of their day in the rest of Europe.
The first and chief of these causes was the destruction and mutilation of so many ancient writings during the Danish occu- pation of Erinn; for we have it on trustworthy record, that those hardy and imscrupulous adventurers made it a special part of their savage warfare to tear, burn, and drown (as it is expressed) all books and records that came to their hands, in the sacking of churches and monasteries, and the plundering of the habitations of the chiefs and nobles. And that they des- troyed them, and did not take them away, as some have thought (contrary to the evidence of our records), is confirmed by the fact that not a fragment of any such manuscripts has as yet been found among the collections of ancient records in Copen- hagen, Stockholm, or any of the other great northern reposi- tories of antiquities that we are acquainted with.
Another, and, we may beheve, the chief cause, was the oc-
f65 It has been thought proper to _insert in the Appendix (No. III.) the text (with translation) of tliree of these curious poems, as specimens of the style and composition of so very early a writer. They are all on the subject of the battles and triumphs of King Crimtkan, son of Enna Ceinnselacli (King of l.einster in the time of the poet, i.e., the fifth century), and on those of Enna himseU".
6 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINX.
LECT. I. currence of tlie Anglo-Nonuan invasion so soon after the expul- Nciect f ^^^^^ °^ ^^^® Danes, and tlie sinister results which it produced thc'iangurtge upou thc literary as well as upon all the other interests of the dern'times."" country. The protracted conflicts between the natives and their invaders were fatal not only to the vigorous resumption of the study of our language, but also to the very existence of a great part of our ancient literature. The old practice of repro- ducing our ancient books, and adding to them a record of such events as had occurred from the period of their first compila- tion, as well as the composition of new and independent works, was almost altogether suspended. And thus our national litera- ture received a fatal check at the most important period of its development, and at a time when the mind of Europe was be- ginning to expand under the influence of new impulses.
Again, the discovery of printiug at a subsequent period made works in other languages so miich more easy of access than those transcribed by hand in the Irish tongue, that this also may have contributed to the farther neglect of native composi- tions.
Aided by the new political mle under which the coimtry, after a long and gallant resistance, was at length brought, these and similar influences banished, at last, almost the possibility of cultivating the Gaedhlic literature and learning. The long- continuing insecurity of life and property drove out the native chiefs and gentry. Or gradually changed their minds and feel- ings— the class which had ever before supplied liberal patrons of the national hterature.
Not only were the old Irish nobility, gentry, and people in general, lovers of their native language and literature, and patrons of literary men, but even the great Anglo-Norman nobles themselves who eflected a permanent settlement among us, appear from the first to have adopted what doubtless must have seemed to them the better manners, customs, language, and literature of the natives ; and not only did they miuiificently patronize their professors, but became themselves proficients in these studies ; so that the Geraldines, the Butlers, the Burkes, the Keatings, and others, thought, spoke, and wrote in the Gaedhlic, and stored their libraries with choice and expensive volumes in that language ; and they were reproached by their own compatriots with having become " ipsis Hibernis Hiber- niores", — " more Irish than the Irish themselves". So great indeed was the value in those days set on literary and historical documents by chiefs and princes, that it has more than once happened that a much-prized MS. was the stipulated ransom of a captive noble, and became the object of a tedious warfare ;
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. /
and tliis state of tilings continued to exist for several centuries, lect. i. even after the whole framework of Irish society was shaken to ^., ^
11 • • • r 1 -r\ 1 TVT Literature
pieces by the successive invasions or the Danes, the JNorsemen, encouraged and the Anglo-Normans, followed by the Elizabethan, Crom- cMct^lins,''" wellian, and WilHamite wars and confiscations, and accompanied "f^'^ti^e^r na' by the e"\'er-increasing dissensions of the native princes among f'onai miie- themselves, disunited as they were ever after the fall of the supreme monarchy at the close of the twelfth century.
With the dispersion of the native chiefs, not a few of the great books that had escaped the wreck of time were altogether lost to us ; many followed the exiled fortunes of their owners ; and not a few were placed in inaccessible security at home. Indeed, it may be said that after the termination of the great wars of the seventeenth centmy, so few and inaccessible were the exam- ples of the old Gaedhlic literature, that it was almost impos- sible to acquire a perfect knowledge of the language in its purity.
With such various causes, active and long-continued, in ope- ration to effect its destruction, there is reason for wonder that we should still be in possession of any fragments of the ancient literature of oiu- country, however extensive it may once have been. And that it was extensive, and comprehended a wide range of subjects — justifying the expressions of the old writers who spoke of " the hosts of the books of Erinn" — may be judged from those wliich have survived the destructive ravages of in- vasion, the accidents of time, and the other causes just enume- rated. When we come to inqmre concerning the fragments which exist in England and elsewhere, they will be found to be still of very large extent; and if we judge the value and pro- portions of the original literatiu'e of our Gaedhlic ancestors, as we may fairly do, l^y what remains of it, we may be justly ex- cused the indulgence of no small feeling of national j)ride.
Amongst the collections of Irish MSS. now accessible, many of the most remarkable can be sho^vn to possess a high degree of antiquity ; and not only do they in many instances exhibit internal evidence of having been compiled from still more ancient dociunents, but this is distinctly so stated in reference to several of the most valuable tracts contained in them.
We also find numerous references to books, of which we now unfortimately possess no copies ; and these invaluable records, it is to be feared, are now irrecoverably lost. Of the works the originals of which have not come down to us, but with whose contents we are made more or less familiar by references, cita- tions, or transcripts in still existing MSS., I shall now proceed to give you a brief general outline ; reserving for another lecture
LECT. I.
8 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
tlie more detailed discussion of tlie subjects wliicli they treat of, tlieir historic value, and the place whicli tliey are entitled to occupy in tlie reconstruction of our ancient literature.
Of the I. The first ancient book that I shall mention is one to which
I have found but one or two references, and which I must in- troduce by a rather circuitous train of evidence.
In the time of Senchan (pron. " Shencan"), then Chief Poet of Erinn, and of Saint Ciaran (pronounced in English as if written "Kieran"), of Cluain mic JVois, or Clonmacnoise, — ^that is about A.D. 580, — Senchan is stated to have called a meeting of the poets and learned men of Erinn, to discover if any of them remembered the entire of the ancient Tale of the Tain bo Chuailgne, or the Cattle Spoil or Cattle plunder of Cuailgne,^^^ a romantic tale founded upon an occurrence which is referred to the beginning of the Christian Era.
The assembled poets all answered that they remembered but fragments of the Tale ; whereupon Senchan commissioned two of his own pupils to travel into the country of Letha to learn the Tale of the Tain, loliich tlie Saoi, or Professor, liad taken to the East after the Cuilmenn [or the great book written on Skins] .
The passage is as follows (see original in Appendix, No. IV.) : " The Files of Erinn were now called together by Senchan Torpeist, to know if they remembered the Tain ho Chuailgne in full ; and they said that they knew of it but fragments only. Senchan then spoke to his pupils to know wliich of them would go into the countries of Letha to learn the Tdiii, which the Sai had taken 'eastwards' after the Cuilmenn. Emine, the grandson of Ninine, and Muirgen, Senchan's own son, set out to go to the East". [Book of "Leinster (H. 2. 18. T.C.D.), fol. 183, a.]
This, to be sure, is but a vague reference, but it is sufficient to show that in Senchan's time there was at least a tradition that some such book had existed, and had been carried into Letha, the name by which Italy in general, and particularly that part of it in which Rome is situated, was designated by ancient Irish writers. Now the carrying away of this book is a circumstance which may possibly have occurred during or shortly subsequent to St. Patrick's time. And so, finding this reference in a MS. of such authority as the Book of Leinster (a well-known and most valuable compilation of the middle of the twelfth century), I could not pass it over here.
<7^ CuAiijne (Cuailgne), a district now called Cooley, in the modern county of Louth.
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 9
I remember but one other reference to a Book known by the lect i. name of Cuihnenn: it occm's in the " Brehon Laws", and in an qj. j,^g ancient Irish Law Glossary, compiled by the learned Duhhal- saltaik of tach Mac Firhlsigh (Duald Mac Firbis), and preserved in the Library of T.C.D. (classed H. 5. 30.), in wdiich the Seven Orders (or degrees) of " Wisdom" are distinguished and explained, (Wisdom, I should tell you, here technically signifies history and antiquity, sacred and profane, as well as the whole range of what we should now call a collegiate education.) It is in these words : —
" Druiracli^*^ is a man who has a perfect knowledge of wis- dom, from the greatest Book, which is called Cuihnenn, to the smallest Book, which is called ' Ten Words' \_I)eich m-Breithir, that is ' the Ten Commandments' ; a name given to the Penta- teuch], in which is well arranged the good testament which God made unto Moses". — [See Appendix, No. V.]
The Cuihnenn here spoken of is placed in opposition to the Books of Moses, as if it were a repertory of history or other matter concerning events entirely apart from those contained in the sacred volume,
II, The next ancient record which we shall consider is one about the authenticity of which much doubt and imcertainty have existed in modern times ; I allude to the Saltair of Tara, the composition of which is referred to the third century.
The oldest reference to this book that I have met with is to be formd in a poem on the map or site of ancient Tara, written by a very distinguished scholar, Cuan O'Lochain, a native of Westmeath, who died in the year 1024, The oldest copy of O'Lochain's verses that I have seen is preserved in the ancient and very curious topographical tract so well known as the Dlnnsenchas (pron: nearly "Dinnshanacus"), of which several ancient IMS. editions have been made from time to time. The one from which I am about to quote is to be found in the Book of Ballymote, a magnificent vohune compiled in the year 1391, and now deposited among the rich treasures of the Royal
(8' ■0|\tiinicVi, i.e., he who has (or knows) the top ridge (or highest range) of learning; a word compounded of "oivuini, the ridge of a iiill, or the back of a person, or the ridge of tlie roof of a liouse ; and cti, a form of cieic, the column, or tree, which in ancient times supported the house ; and the man who was a -oiAiiinicti was supposed to have cUmbed up tlie pillar or tree of learning to its very ridge or top, and was thus qualified to be a Vepl-eijinn — a Professor, or man qualified to teach or superintend the teaching of the whole course of a college education, [The entire passage, in which the "Seven Orders of Wisdom" are separately explained, will be found, with translation, in the Appenuix, No. V.]
10 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT. I. Irish Academy. Tlie following extract (the original of wliich ~ T~ will be found in the Appendix, No. VI.) from the opening of Poem on O'Lochain's most valuable jjoem contains somewhat more than ^^™' an allusion to the Saltair of Tara: —
Temair,'^®-' choicest of hills,
For [possession of] which Erinn is now devastated,
The noble city of Cormac Son of Art,
Who was the son of great Conn of the hundred battles :
Cormac, the prudent and good,
Was a sage, Sijlle (or poet), a prince:
Was a righteous judge of the Fene-men,^'°^
Was a good friend and companion.
Cormac gained fifty battles :
He compiled the Saltair of Temur.
In that Saltair is contained
The best smnmary of history ;
It is that Saltair which assigns
Seven chief kings to Erinn of harbours ;
They consisted of the five kings of the provinces, —
The monarch of Erinn and his Deputy.
In it are (written) on either side,
What each provincial king is entitled to.
What the king of Temur in the east is entitled to.
From the king of each great musical province.
The synchronisms and chronology of all.
The kings, with each other [one with another] all ;
The boundaries of each brave province,^"-'
From a cantred up to a great chieftaincy.
This important poem, which consists altogether of thirty -two quatrains, has been given (from the MS. H. 3. 3 in the Library
(•') Ceiiu\i]\ i.e. CeAiimi^, is the nominative : CeAiiiyvAc, the genitive, which is in'onounced very nearly Tara, as the place is now called in English. This celebrated hill is situated in the present county of INIeath, but a few miles to the west of Dublin. The remains of the ancient i>alace of the Kings of Erinn are still visible upon it. (See the admirable Memoir upon these remains pub- lished by Dr. Petrie in the eighteenth vol. of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, in which a detailed map of the ruins is given.) It is more than probable that this poem was written in the year 1001, when Brian Boroimhe showed the first symptoms of a design to dethrone King Maelseachlaimi or Malachy.
(10) "Eene-men". — These were the fiirmers; and what is meant therefore is that Cormac was a rigliteous Judge of the " Agraria Lex" of the Gaels.
<iOThis line has been translated " The boundaries of each pro^dnce /row the hiW" ; but after much consideration I have clearly come to the conclusion that the word in the original is intended for iro-ci\tu\i j, or po-ciuu\ix), brave, valiant, hardy, and not po cjmkmc, _/ro»i tlie hill.
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 11
of Trinity College), with an English translation, by oiu" dis- lect. i. tinofiTished conntr^anan. Doctor Petrie, in his vakiable Memoir _„ ^, ,.,, of reniair, or lara, piibhshed m the eighteenth volume oi the of "Saitair" Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, p. 143.
The Book of Ballymote, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy [at fol. 145, a. a.], and the Yellow Book of Lecan, in that of Trinity College, DnbHn [classed H. 2. 16.] at col. 889, both contain a curious article on the excellence of Cormac Mac Art as a king, a judge, and a warrior, from which I may extract here the following passage as also referring to the Saitair of Tara [see Appendix, No. VII.] : —
" A noble work was performed by Cormac at that time, namely, the compilation of Cormac's Saitair, which was com- posed by him and the Seanchaidhe, [or Historians] of Erinn, including Fintan, Son of Bochra, and Fithil, the poet and judge [both distinguished for ancient lore]. And their syn- chronisms andi genealogies, the succession of their kings and. monarchs, their battles, their contests, and their antiquities, from the world's beginning down to that time, were written ; and this is the Saitair of Temair, which is the origin and fountain of the Historians of Erinn from that period down to this time. This is taken from the Book of the Uachong- bhail".
Dr. Petrie, in his remarks on the Saitair or Psalter of Tara (Transact. R. I. A., vol. xviii., p. 45), observes that " the very title given to this work is sufficient to excite well-founded sus- picion of its antiquity". His meaning evidently is, that the title of Saitair appears clearly to imply a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and can' scarcely have been selected as the title of his work by a heathen author.
We do not, however, anywhere read that the name of Psalter or Saitair, was given to this work by its compiler. We know that in later times the celebrated King-Bishop Cormac Mac Cullinan gave the same name of Saitair to the great simi- lar collection made by him about the close of the ninth or be- ginning of the tenth century. Did he call his compilation, or was it called by others, after the Saitair of Tara, compiled by the older Cormac in the third century ? Or even if we suppose the name of Saitair or Psalter to have originated with the Christian Cormac, the same name may have been afterwards given to the older work, from the similar nature of its con- tents, and from its ha^dng been compiled by another Cormac. If the one was worthy of being named Psalter of Cashel, as having been compiled at the command of a King of Cashel, the other was equally entitled to the name of Psalter of Taraj
I)r. Pctrie
12 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
having been compiled by a King of Tara. There was time enough from the beginning of the tenth century to the time oil the we first find it mentioned under the name of Saltair and PsaUer
of Tara, to give full currency to the title ; and this supposition may, in part, perhaps, furnish an answer to another of Dr. Petrie's difficulties, viz., that this book has not been quoted, nor any extract from it given, in any of our antient Irish au- thorities, although the Saltair of Casliel is frequently cited by them. Perhaps they have quoted it, although under other names, not yet ascertained by us to be identical with it, the name of Saltair of Tara not having been in their time univer- sally adopted as apphcable to it. But a better answer to the difficulty is probably to be found in the fact, that the Saltair of Tara had perished before the twelfth or thirteenth century, and consequently was inaccessible to the compilers of the Books of Ballymote, Lecan, Hy Many, etc. For in the passage just quoted from the Book of Ballymote, its contents are described on the authority of the Book of the Uachonghhail; whilst Cuan O'Lochain, writmg three centuries before, speaks of it (and under the name of Saltair of Tara) as being in his time extant. It follows, then, beyond all reasonable doubt, that whether or not the name of Saltair or Psalter was originally given to this compilation, such a compilation existed, and that m the beginning of the eleventh centiuy it was in existence, under the name of Saltair of Tara, and believed to have been collected luider the patronage of Cormac Mac Art, who died in the year 2QQ.
Before I leave the subject of the " Saltair", I cannot but observe, that the Rev. Dr. Keating also, a most learned Gaedhhc scholar, gives an explanation of tire word quite in consonance with the preceding remarks. In the Preface to his History of Ireland he tells us that History in ancient times was all written in verse, for its better security, and for the greater facility of committing it to memory ; and he goes on to refer to the Saltair of Tara in the following words [see original in Appendix, No. VIII.]:—
" And it is because of its having been written in poetic metre, that the chief book which was in the custody of the Ollamli of the King of Erinn, was called the ' Saltair of Teniair' ; and the Chronicle of holy Cormac Mac Cullinan, ' Saltair of Cashel'; and the Chronicle of Aengus Ceile De [or the " Culdee"], ' Saltair-na- Rami [that is, " Saltair of the Poems, or Verses"] ; because a Salm [Psalm] and a Poem are the same, and therefore a Salterium and a Duanaire [book of poems] are the same".
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 13
III. Of tlie next in order of the lost books, tlie Book of lect. i. THE Vachoxgbhail (pron: " ooa cong-wall"), almost nothing is qj jj^g known beyond the bare name. Tlie passage jnst quoted from ^°°^h"L.; the Book of Ballvmote and from the Yellow Book of Lecan, bhail. was copied into those JNISS. from the lost book itself, accord- ing to the entry ; but what was the age of the book at that
time it is now impossible to determine. The O'Clerys, how- ever, mention that they had access to it when compiling their Book of the Invasions of Erinn, that is in the year 1630 or 1631. And Keating, in the Second Book of his History, mentions the Book of the Uachonghhail among the very ancient books or transcripts of very ancient books which were still extant in his own time, and of which he had made use. It was probably of the age of the Book of Leinster, and kept at Kil- dare in 1626.
IV. The next book of considerable antiquity that we find c,^ ^^qma reference to is that called the Cin Droma S^'echta, or Cin s.nechta. of Drom Snechta. The word Cm (pron: in Engl. "Kin")
is explained in our ancient Glossaries as signifying a stave of five sheets of vellum: and the name of this book would signify, thei'efore, the Vellum-stave Book of Drom Snechta. The words Drom Snechta signify the snow-capped hill, or mountain ridge, and it is beheved to have been the name of a mountain situated in the present county of Monaghan.
The Cin of Drom Snechta is quoted in the Book of Bally- mote [fol. 12 a.] in support of the ancient legend of the ante- diluvian occupation of Erinn by the Lady JBanhha, who is however in other Books called Cesair (pron: "Kesar"). There are also two references to it in the Book of Lecan. The first of these [fol. 271 b.] is in the same words preserved in the Book of Ballymote : " From the Cin of Drom Snechta is [taken] this little [bit] as far as Cesair". — [See Appendix, No. IX.] The second is [fol. 77 b., col. 2] where the writer says in sum- ming up the genealogies of some of the families of Connacht, that he compiled them from the Chronicles of the Gaedhil : —
" We have collected now this genealogy of the Ui-Diarmada out of the Chronicles of the Gaedhil, and out of Cormac's Saltair at Cashel, and out of the Book of Diuidahatligldas [Down- patrick] , and out of the Books of Flann Mainistrech [Flann of Monasterboice] , and out of the Cin of Drom Snechta, and out of the annals and historical books [of Erinn], until we have brought it all together here". — [See Appendix, No. X.]
The same valuable book quotes the Cin Droma Snechta again by direct transcript [at folio 123 a.], where it gives, first,
14 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT. I. the genealogies of the chieftains of the ancient Rudiician race of Ulster, in the ordinary way in which they are found in writer' of the othcr books of the same and of a previous period ; and it then <S'wec^ta.'"" gives a different version, saying: — "The Cin of Drom Snechta says that it is (as follows) it ought to he". — [See Appendix, No. XL] This has reference to the pedigrees of the Irian race of Ulster, and immediately to that of the celebrated Knight of the Craehh Ruadli, or Royal Branch, Conall Cearnach.^''^-"
A short account of the Destruction of Bruigliean Da Derga (The Court of Da Derga), and the death of tlie monarch Co- naire Mor, is quoted from the Cin of Drom Snechta in LeahJiar na h- Uidhre, fol. 67 a. ; and again, the Account of the birth of Cuchulainn, at fol. 80 b. from the same book.
Doctor Keating, in his History, when introducing the Mile- sian colonists, gives their descent from Magog, the son of Japhet, on the authority of the Cin of Drom Snechta, which, he states, was compiled before Saint Patrick's mission to Erinn. His words are : " We will set doAvn here the branching off of the race of Magog, according to the Book of Invasions (of Ire- land), which was called the Cin of Drom Snechta, and it was before the coming of (St.) Patrick to Ireland the author of that book existed". — [See Appendix, No. XII.] What autho- rity Dr. Keating had for this statement we know not, as imfor- tunately he has not given it; and the only reference to the author's name that I have myself ever found is in a partially effaced memorandum in the Book of Leinster. This memo- randum is written in the lower margin of a page [fol. 230 b.], which contains ffenealomes of several of the chienain lines of Ireland and Scotland.
There is apparently but one word — the name of the writer — illesfible at the be^innino^ of this memorandum : and with this word provisionally restored, the note would read thus : —
" [Ernin, son of] Duach [that is], son of the King of Con- nacht, an Ollamh, and a prophet, and a professor in history, and a professor in wisdom, it was he that collected the Genea- logies and Histories of the men of Erinn in one book, that is, the Cin Droma Snechta^ — [See Appendix, No. XHI.]
The Duach here referred to (who was probably still alive at the time of Saint Patrick's coming) was the son of Brian, son of the Monarch Eochaidh Muighnhedlioin, who died a.d. 365. (This Eochaidh was also the father of Niall of the Nine Ho*^-
(12) The chiefs whose pedigrees are here collected are those whose names ap- pear in the ancient story of Deirilre and the tragical death of the sons of Uis- neach, of which the Gaelic Society of Dublin published an inaccurate version in the year 1808
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 15
tages, who was tlie father of Laeghaire, the Monarch of Erinn lect. r. at the time when Saint Patrick came on his mission in the year ^j^ ^ 432). Duach had two sons — Eoghan Srem, who succeeded ted in the
1 - T.r- x" /^ -I , 1 TTv / BookofLein-
him as King oi Connacnt and Ernin. ster.
A descendant in the fourth generation of this Duach was King of Connacht, and a Christian, namely, Duach Tengumha, or Duach the sweet-tongued, who died, according to the An- nals of the Four Masters, a.d. 499, leaving an only son, Senach, who was the ancestor of the O'Flahertys of West Connacht.
Now, as there are but two of the name of Duach to be found in the whole Ime of the Kings of Connacht (of whom the first was a pagan and the second a Christian), the compiler of the Cin of Drom Snechta must have been the son of one or other ; and as the tradition concerning the book is, that it was written before Patrick's time, it is pretty clear, if we assume this tradi- tion to be correct, that the son of Duach Galacli was the com- piler. Finally, as his elder son, Eoghan Srem, succeeded him as king, it appears to me very probable that his younger son, Ernin, was the author of the Cin of Drom Snechta. This woidd fairly enough bear out the statement which Keating has put forward.^'*^
Dr. Keating makes another reference to the Cin, where, in speaking of the schools said to have been instituted by Fenius Farsaidh, he says: —
" Fenius sets up schools to teach the several languages, on the Plain of Seanar, in the city which the Cin Droma Sneachta calls Eothona, as the poet says", etc. — [See Appendix, No. XV.]
It has been already observed that the ancient book called the Leabhar na li-Uidhre (which is in some part preserved in a M.S. of circa a.d. 1100, bearing the same name, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy) contains a reference to the Cin of Drom Snechta. And to this very old authority may be added that of the Book of Leinster, in which (at fol. 149 b.) occurs the following curious passage : —
" From the Cin of Drom Snechta, this below. Historians say that there were exiles of Hebrew women in Erinn at the
(13) While these sheets were passing through the press (August, 1858), I took advantage of an unusually bright day to make another careful examination of the time-blackened leaf of the Book of Leinster, in which this curious entry appears. I have tliis time had the satisfaction of being able to make out perfectly all the words, except the very first — the name of the son of Duach ; and this name itself, though not so clear as the remainder of the sentence, is, in my opinion, equally unmistakeable. To my eyes it is certainly epnin. It will be observed, on reference to the original (m the Appendix), that tliere is no word between Ernin and Duach. The word iuac, " son", which should have been written here, seems to liave been accidentally omitted by the scribe. Tlie word however occurs only once, that is, after '-Duach". The sentence reads literally: "Ernin [of] Duach, [that is] son of the King of Connacht",— Duach
JIOR,
16 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT EBIXN.
_ coming of tlie sons of Milesliis, wlio had been driven by a sea ^^ ^j^g tempest into the ocean by tlie Tirren Sea. Tliey were in Eiinn senchas before the sons of Milesius. They said, however, to the sons of iVlilesius [who it would appear j)ressed marriage on them] that they preferred their own country, and that they Avould not abandon it without receiving dowry for alliance with tliem. It is from this circumstance that it is the men that purchase wives in Erinn for ever ; whilst it is the husbands that are purchased by the wives throughout the world besides". — [See Appendix, No. XVI.]
This short extract is found also in a much longer and very curious article in the Book of Lecain [fol. 181 b.], and there can be little doubt that both jNISS. followed the original in the Cin of Drom Snechta.
V. The next ancient written work that we find ascribed to this early period is the Senchas Mor (pron : " Shanchus mor"), or Great Law-Compilation ; which was made, according to the Annals of Ulster, in the year 439, imder the direction of nine eminent persons, consisting of three kings, three bishops, and tlu'ee Files, [see ante, note (2)]. The three chief personages engaged in this great work were Laeghaire, the Monarch of Erinn ; Patrick, the Apostle of Erinn ; and Ros, the Chief File of Erinn.
A large portion, if not the whole, of this work has come down to us by successive transcriptions, dating from the close of the thirteenth, or beginning of the fourteenth, to the latter part of the sixteenth centmy.
In the account of this work, generally prefixed to it, and Avhich is in itself of great antiquity, we are told that it was Ros, the poet, that placed before Saint Patrick tlie arranged body of the previously existing Laws of Erinn ; that the Saint expimged from them all that was specially antichristian or otherwise objectionable, and proposed such alterations as would make them harmonize with the new system of religion and morals which he had brought into the country ; that these alterations were approved of, adopted, and embodied in the ancient code ; and that code thus amended was established as the Na- tional Law throughout the land.
The great antiquity of this compilation is admitted by Dr. Petrie, in his Memoir on Tara, already alluded to ; but that the professed authors of it could possibly have been brought toge-
having been the King of Connaclit. In tlie Appendix (No. XIV.) will be found the pedigree of Duach Galnch, who is by mistake confounded with his descendant Duach Tengumha, a succeeihng King of Connaeht, in the note (p) at J). 161 of Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters, under the year 499.
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT EKINN. 17
tlier at the time of its reputed compilation, he denies, as did lect. i. Dr. Lanigan before him. Every year's investigation of onr ^^ ^ ancient records, however, shows more and more their veritable Library of cliaraeter; and I trust that the forthcoming Report of the (vi.Ten'-''* Brehon Law Commission, of which Dr. Petrie is a member, ^^^'^'^' will remove the excusable scepticism into which the caution of the more conscientious school of critics who succeeded the reckless theorists of Vallancey's time, has driven them. I believe it will show that the recorded account of this great revision of the Body of the Laws of Erinn is as fully entitled to confidence as any other well-authenticated fact of ancient history.
But this subject (one obviously of great importance) will be thoroughly discussed in the forthcoming pubhcation by the Brehon Law Commission, of this great monument of our ancient civilization ; so that you will understand why the subject cannot with propriety be entered into further here. So far as the ques- tion of the antiquity of the contents of the Senehas Jlor is concerned, I may only observe that Cormac Mac CuUinan often quotes passages from this work in his Glossary, which is known to have been written not later than about the close of the ninth century.
There is a curious account of a private collection of books, " of all the sciences", as it is expressed, given in a note to the Felire, or metrical Festology of Aengus CeU De^ or the " Culdee"; it is to this effect : Saint Colum Cille having paid a visit to Saint Longarad of Ossory, requested permission to examine his books, but Longarad having refused, Colum then prayed that his friend should not profit much by his refusal, whereupon the books became illegible immediately after his death ; and these books were in existence in that state in the time of the origi- nal author, whoever he was, of the note in the FelirS.
The passage (for the original of which see Appendix. No, XVII.) is as follows : it is a note to the stanza of the great poem, for September 3 ; which is as follows : —
" COLMAN OF DrOM-FERTA,
Longarad, a shining sun; Mac Nisse with his thousands, From great Condere".
[Note.] — "Longarad the white-legged, of Magh Tuathat, in the north of Ossory (Osraifjhe) ; i.e,m Uihh Foirchellain ; i.e in Magh Garad, in JDisert Garad particularly, and in Cill Gahhra in Sliabh Mairge, in Lis Longarad. The ' white-
9
18 01- THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT I. legged', i.e., from great wliite hair wlilcli was on his legs ; or his Of the Book ^^S^ Were transparently fair. He was a Suidh (Doctor or Pro- of s.Mochta. fessor) in classics, and in history, and in judgment (law), and in philosophy [_JilidecJit], [see ante, note (2)]. It was to him Colmn Cille went on a visit; and he concealed his books from him ; and Colum Cille left a ' word' [of imprecation] on his books, i.e., 'May it not be of avail after thee', said he, ' that for which thou hast shown inhospitality'. And this is what has been fulfilled, for the books exist still, and no man can read them. Now, when Longarad was dead, what the learned tell us is, that all the book-satchels of Erinn dropped [from their racks] on that night. Or they were the satchels which contained the books of sciences [or, professions] which were in the chamber in wliich Colum Cille was, that fell. And Colum Cille and all that were in that house wondered, and they were all astounded at the convulsions of the books, upon which Colum Cille said : ' Longai'ad ', said he, ' in Ossory, i.e., a Sai^^*^ (Doctor) in every science [it is he] that has died now'. ' It will be long until that is verified', said Baithin. ' May your successor [for ever] be suspected, on account of this', said Colum Cille ; et dixit Colum Cille : —
Lon is dead [Lon is dead] ;^'^^
To cm Garad it is a great misfortune ;
To Erinn with its countless tribes ;
It is a destruction of learning and of schools.
Lon has died, [Lon has died] ;
In cm Garad great the misfortune ;
It is a destruction of learning and of schools,
To the Island of Erinn beyond her boundaries".
However fabulous this legend may appear, it will SLifiice, at all events, to show in what estimation books were held in the time of the schoHast of the works of Aengus, and also the prevalent belief in his time m the existence of an Irish literature at a period so long antecedent to his own. The pro- bability is that the books were so old at the time of this writer as to be illegible, and hence the legend to account for their condition.
(14) The word occurs in the original so, — not spelled the same way in which it appears just before, probably owing to the carelessness of the scribe.
o-)^In ancient poetry, when the second half line was a repetition of the first, it was very seldom written, though it was always well understood that it ought to be repeated. And in fact the metre would not be complete without this repetition.
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 19
VI. There are some otlier ancient books quoted in the Annals lect. i. ofUlster, of which one is called the Book of Saint Mochta, oftj^ggoo^, who was a disciple of Saint Patrick. This book is quoted at a.d. of cuana, 527, but it is uncertain whether it was a book of general An- d'albuhk. nals, or a Sacred Biography.
We also find mention of the Book of Cuana and the Book of Dubli da leithe.
VII. The Book of Cuana, or Guana's Book of Annals, is quoted for the first time in the Annals of Ulster, at the year 468, and repeatedly afterwards down to 610. The death of a person named Cuana, a scribe of Treoit (now Trevit, in Meatli), is recorded in the same Annals (of Ulster), at the year 738, after which year no quotation from Cuana's Book occurs in these Annals ; whence it may be inferred that this Cuana was the compiler of the work known as the Book of Cuana, or Cuanach.
VIII. The same Annals of Ulster quote, as we have already said, the Book of Dubiwaleithe, at the years 962 and 1021, but not after. There were two persons of this name : one of them an Abbot, and the other a Bishop (of Armagh) ; the former from the year ^65 to the year 998, and the latter from 1049 to 1064 ; so that the latter must be presumed to have been the compiler of the Book of Dubhdaleithe.
IX. Next after these, because of the certainty of Its author's TiiR^of^^'' time, I would class the Saltair of Cashel, compiled by the Cashel. learned and venerable Cormac MacCullinan, King of Munster
and Archbishop of Cashel, who was killed in the year 903.
At what time this book was lost we have no precise know- ledge ; but that it existed, though in a dilapidated state, in the year 1454, is evident from the fact, that there is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Laud, 610), a copy of such portions of it as could be deciphered at that time, made by Sedan^ or Shane, O'Clery for Mac Richard Butler. From the contents of this copy, and from the frequent references to the original, for history and genealogies found in the Books of Ballymote, Lecan, and others, it must have been a historical and genealogical compilation of large size and great diversity.
If, as there is every reason to believe, the ancient compila- tion, so well known as Cormac's Glossary, was compiled from the interlined gloss to the Saltair, we may well feel that its loss is the greatest we have suffered, so numerous are the references and citations of history, law, romance, druidism, mythology, and other subjects in which this Glossary abounds. It is be-
2b
20 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF AXCIENT ERINN.
LECT. I. sides invaluable in the study of Gacdlilic comparative philo- logy, as the author traces a great many of the words either by lost books, derivation from, or comparison with, the Hebrew, the Greek, the Latin, the British, and, as he terms it, the Northmantic language ; and it contains at least one Pictish word \_Cartait], — almost the only word of the Pictish language that we possess. There is a small fragment of this Glossary remaining in the an- cient Book of Leinster (wliich is as old as the year 1150), and a perfect copy made about the year 1400 is preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, besides two fragments of it in O'Clery's copy of the Saltair already mentioned, the volume in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford (Laud, 610).
Besides the several books enumerated above, and the pro- bable dates of which we have attempted to fix, we find in several existing MSS. reference to many other lost books, whose exact ages and the relative order of time in which they were composed are quite uncertain. But the references to them are so numerous, and occur in MSS. of such different dates, that we may readily believe them to have embraced a tolerably extensive period in our history ; and it is highly pro- bable that they connected the most ancient periods with those which we find so well illustrated in the oldest manuscript re- cords which have come down to us.
I do not profess to give here a complete enumeration of all the books mentioned in our records, and of which we have now no further knowledge, but the following list will be found to contain the names of those which are most frequently referred to.
In the first place must be enumerated again the Cuihnenn; the Saltair of Tara; The Cin Droma Snechta; the Book of St. Mochta; the Book of Cuana; the Book of Duhlidaleithe; and the Saltair of Cashel. Besides these we find mention of the Leahhar buidhe Slaine, or Yellow Book of Slane ; the ori- ginal Leahhai^ na h-Uidhre; the Books o£ Eochaidh O'Flanna- gain; a certain book known as the Book eaten by the poor people in the desert; the Book of Inis an Duin; the Short Book of Saint Buithe's Monastery (or Monasterboice) ; the Books of Flann, of the same Monastery ; the Book of Flann of Dungeimhin (Dungiven, Co. Derry) ; the Book of Dun da Letli Ghlas (or Downpatrick) ; the Book of Doire (or Derry) ; the Book of Sahhall Phatraic (or Saull, Co. Down) ; the Book of the Uaclionghliail (Navan, probably) ; the Leahhar duhh Malaga, or Black Book of Saint Molaga; the Leahhar huidhe Moling, or Yellow Book of Saint Moling ; the Leahhfir buidhe Mhio Murchadha, or Yellow Book of Mac Murrach; the
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 21
Leahhar Arda Macha, or Book of Armagh (quoted by Keat- lect. i. ing) ; the Leahhar ruadh Mkic Aedhagain, or Red Book of j^^^^^^ Mac Aedhagan or Mac Aegaii; the Leabhar breac Mldc Aedh- referred to again, or Speckled Book of Mac Aegan ; the Leahhar fada ^ ^'^'^""s- L^eitlighlinne, or Long Book of Leithghhnn, or Leithhn ; the Books of O'Scoba of Cluain Mic Nois (or Clonmacnois) ; the Dull Droma Ceata, or Book of Drom Ceat; and the Leahhar Chluana Sost, or Book of Clonsost (in Leix, in the Queen's Coimty).
Such, then, is a brief glance at what constituted probably but a few of the books and records of Erinn wlaich we are sure must have existed, with perhaps three or four exceptions, an- terior to the year 1100, and of which there are now no frag- ments known to me to remain, though some of them are referred to in works of comparatively modern date.
The Rev. GeofFry Keating (Parish Priest of Tubrid, near Clonmel) compiled, about the year 1630, from several ancient MSS. then accessible, a History of Erinn, from its earliest ascribed colonization, down to the Anglo-Norman Invasion in the year 1170. This book is written in the modified Gaedhlic of Keatmcr's own time : and although he has used but little dis- crmiination in his selections from old records, and has almost en- tirely neglected any critical examination of his authorities, still his book is a valuable one, and not at all, in my opinion, the despicable prodviction that it is often ignorantly said to be.
Some of the lost works that I have mentioned are spoken of, and even quoted by this writer. He refers to the following books as being extant in his own time ; namely, the Book of Armagh (but evidently not the book now known imder this name) ; the Saltair of Cashel ; the Book of the Uachongbhail; the Book of Cluain Eidhneach (in Leix) ; the Saltair na Rann (writ- ten by Aengus Ceile De); the Book of Glenn da Locha; the L^eahhar na h-Uidhre, which was written originally at Cluain Mic JVois, or Clonmacnoise, in Saint Ciaran's tune ; the Yellow Book of Saint MoHng ; the Black Book of Saint Molaga ; the Red Book of Mac Aegan ; and the Speckled Book of Mac Aegan,
Of this list of Books, all of which were certainly extant in 1630, we now know only the Saltair na Mann, which still exists in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
Prefixed to the Leabhar Gabhdla, or Book of Invasions, com- piled by the O'Clerys in 1630 or 1631, there is a hst of the ancient books from which that compilation was made. They were the foUowine;: — The Book o^ BaiU ui llhaoilchonaire or Bally Mulconroy, which had been copied by Maurice
22 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT. I. O'Maelchonaire, or O'Mulconroy (who died in 1543), out of
tlie Leabhar na li- Uidhre, which had been written at Cluain
referred to Mic JVots (Clonmacnois), in the time of Saint Ciaran ; the Book
lusters."'^'" of Baile ui Chleirigh, or Bally Clery, which was written in the
time of Maelsechlainn Mar, or Malachy the Great, son of Donih-
nall, monarch of Erinn (who began his reign a.d. 979) ; the
Book of Muintir Duibhghenainn, or of the O'Duigenans of
J> Seanchuach in Tir Oililla, or Tirerrill, in the county of Sligo,
and which was called the Leahhar Glilinn da Locha, or Book
of Glenndaloch ; and Leabhar' na h~ Uacliongbhala, or the Book
of the Uachongbhail ; with many other histories, or historical
books besides.
Of this list of Books not one is known to me to be now extant. The ever to be remembered Michael O'Clery, and his fel- low-labourers (who together with him are familiarly known as the Four Masters), insert in their Annals a list of the ancient books from which that noble work was compiled. They were the following: — The Book of Chiain Mic Nois, or Clonmac- noise ; the Book of the Island of the Saints in Loch Ribh (or Loch Bee), in the Shannon; the Book of Secmadh MMc Magh- nusa, in Loch Eirne, or Loch Erne ; the Book of Muintir Mhaoilchonaire, or the O'Mulconroys ; the Book of Muintir Duibhghenan7i, or of the O'Duigenans, of Cill Ronain ; and the Historical Book of Leacain Mic Fhirbhisigh, or Lecan Mac Fn'bis. The Books of Cluain Mic Nois and of the Island of the Saints come down but to the year 1225. The Book of the O'Mulconroys came down to the year 1505. The Book of the O'Duigenans contained entries extending only from the year 1)00 to the year 1563. The Annals of Seanadh Mic Magh- nusa (now called the Annals of Ulster) came down to the year 1632, The Foiir Masters had also a fragment of Cucoi- griche (a name sometimes Englished Peregrine), O'Clery 's Book, containing Annals from the year 1281 to the year 1537, The Book of Maoilin 6g Mac Bruaideadha, or Maoilin the younger Mac Brody, of Thomond, containing Annals from the year 1588 to the year 1602, was also in their possession, as well as Lughaidh O'Clery's Book, containing Annals from the year 1586 to 1603. This last book was probably that known at the present day as the Life of Aedh Muadh, or Hugh Hoe O'Donnell ; which was written by this same Lughaidh O'Clery, and from which the Four Masters have evidently taken all the details given in their Annals relating to that brave and vmfor- tunate Prince.^'^^
(16) A MS. copy of this work, in the handwriting of Cucogry O'Clery, the son of the origmal compiler, has been lately [1858] purchased by the Rev. Dr.
OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MSS. 23
Of this list of Books (witli the exception of the last men- lect. i tioned) not one is known to me to be now in existence except- ^^^^g .^ ^.^^^ ing the Annals of Ulster, the copy of Lugaidh O'Clery's Book, LiWary of made by his son Cucogry, and the book which is now known Duwin as the Book of Lecain, m the Royal Irish Academy, but which at present contains nothing that could be properly called Annals, though there are in it some pages of occurrences with no dates attached.
The language in which such a number of books was written must have been highly cultivated, and found fully adapted to the pm-poses of the historian, the poet, the lawyer, the physi- cian, and the ecclesiastic, and extensively so used; else it may be fairly assumed that Aengus Ceile De, Cormac Mac Cullinan, Eocliaidh O'Flannagan, Cuan O'Lochain, Flann of Saint Buithes Monastery, and all the other great Irish writers from the seventh to the twelfth century, who were so well acquainted with Latin, then the imiversal medium, would not have employed the Gaeclh- lic for their compositions.
Notwithstanding, however, the irreparable loss of the before- named books, there still exists an immense quantity of Gaedhlic waiting of great purity, and of the highest value as regards the history of this country. And these MSS. comprise general and national history ; civil and ecclesiastical records ; and abun- dant materials of genealogy ; besides poetry, romance, law, and medicine ; and some fragments of tracts on mathematics and astronomy.
The collection in Trinity College consists of over 140 volumes, several of them on vellum, dating from the early part of the twelfth down to the middle of the last century. There are also in this fine collection beautiful copies of the Gospels, known as the Books of Kells, and Durrow, and Dimma's Book, attributable to the sixth and seventh centuries ; the Saltair of St. Ricemarch, bishop of St. David's, in the eleventh century, con- taining also an exquisite copy of the Roman Martyrology ; and a very ancient ante-Hieronymian version of the Gospels, the history of which is unknown, but which is evidently an Irish MS. of not later than the ninth century ; also the Evangelistarium of St. Moling, bishop of Ferns in the seventh centmy, with its an- cient box ; and the fragment of another copy of the Gospels, of the same period, evidently Irish. In the same hbrary will be found, too, the chief body of our more ancient laws and
Todd, S.F.T.C.D., at the sale of the books of Mr. W. Monck Mason, in London, and is destined soon (if funds to secure it can be raised) to enrich still farther the splendid collection of the Royal Irish Academy.
24 OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MSS.
LECT. I. ^nnals: all, witli tlie exception of two tracts, written on vel- lum ; and, in addition to these invaluable volumes, many liis-
MSS. in the ,','-,„ ., p , . . .,, • "^ n ^
Library of toricai and lamily poems oi great antiquity, illustrative oi the I'i'fsh "^ '""^ battles, the personal achievements, and the social habits of the Academy. wamoi'S, chicfs, Biid otlicr distingviished personages of our early history. There is also a large number of ancient historical and romantic tales, in which all the incidents of war, of love, and of social life in general, are portrayed, often with considerable power of description and great brilliancy of language ; and there are besides several sacred tracts and poems, amongst the most remarkable of which is the Liber Hyinnorum, believed to be more than a thousand years old.^"-' The Trinity College col- lection is also rich in'Lives of Irish Saints, and in ancient forms of prayer ; and it contains, in addition to all these, many curious treatises on medicine, beautifully written on vellum. Lastly, amongst these ancient MSS. are preserved numerous Ossianic poems relating to the Fenian heroes, some of them of very great antiquity.
The next great collection is that of the Hoj^al Irish Aca- demy, which, though formed at a later period than that of Tri- nity College, is far more extensive, and taken in connection with the unrivalled collection of antiquities secured to this coiuitry by the liberality of this body, forms a national monu- ment of which we may well be proud. It includes some noble old volumes written on vellum, abounding in history as well as poetry ; ancient laws, and genealogy ; science (for it embraces several curious medical treatises, as well as an ancient astrono- mical tract) ; grammar ; and romance. There is there also a great body of most important theological and ecclesiastical com- positions, of the highest antiquity, and in the purest style per- haps that the ancient Gaedhlic language ever attained.
The most valuable of these are original Gaedhlic composi- tions, but there is also a large amount of translations from the Latin, Greek, and other languages. A great part of these translations is, indeed, of a religious character, but there are others from various Latin authors, of the greatest possible im- portance to the Gaedhhc student of the present day, as they enable liim by reference to the originals to determine the value of many now obsolete or obscm-e Gaedhlic words and phrases.
Among these latter translations into Irish, we find an exten- sive range of subjects in ancient Mythology, Poetry, and His-
(i7> This iiiTahiable MS. is in course of publicatioii (a portion haying been issued since the above lecture was deHvered), by the Irish Archa?ologi- cal and Celtic Society, undei- the able superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Todd.
OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MSS. 25
tory, and the Classical Literature of tire Greeks and Romania lect. i as well as many copious illustrations of tlie most remarkable ^j^^ .^ events of tlie IMiddle Ages. So that any one well read in the ^""io"^ li comparatively few existing fragments of oiu' Gaedlilic Litera- England. ture, and whose education had been confined solely to this source, woidd find that there are but very few, indeed, of the great events in the history of the world, the knowledge of which is usually attained through the Classic Languages, or tliose of the middle ages, with which he was not acquainted. I may mention by way of illustration, the Irish versions of the Argonautic Expedition ; the Destruction of Troy ; the Life of Alexander the Great ; the Destruction of Jenisalem ; the Wars of Charlemagne, including the History of Roland the Brave ; the History of the Lombards ; the almost contem- porary translation into Gaedhlic of the Travels of Marco Polo, etc., etc
It is quite evident that a Language which has embraced so wide a field of historic and other important subjects, must have undergone a considerable amount of development, and must liave T3een at once copious and flexible ; and it may be ob- served, in passing, that the very fact of so much of translation into Irish having taken place, shows that there must have been a considerable number of readers ; since men of learning would not have translated for themselves what they could so easily un- derstand in the original.
Passing over some collections of MSS. in private hands at home, I may next notice that of the British INIuseum in London, which is very considerable, and contains much valuable matter ; that of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, which, though consisting of but about sixteen volumes, is enriched by some most precious books, among which is the copy already alluded to of the remains of the Saltair of Cashel, made m the year 1454 ; and some two or three works of an older date. Next comes the Stowe collection, now in the possession of Lord Ash- burnham, and which is tolerably well described in the Stowe Catalogue by the late Rev. Charles O'Conor. There are also in England some other collections in the hands of private indi- viduals, as that of Mr. Joseph Monck Mason"*^ in the neigh-
(18) This collection has been lately sold (1S58) — since the preparation of thig lecture; and through the exertions of the Rev. Dr. Todd, F.T.C.D., two of the most valuable MSS. contained in it haA-e been secured for Ireland, and, ii funds can be procured, will probably be added to the collection of the Koyal Irish Academy; the ie>.\'b>.\i\ Ve^^P^^i^i<^i5e, or Book of Fermoy, on vellum, and the copy before mentioned of Luphaidh O'Clery's Life of Red Ilvigb O'Donnell in the handwriting of Cucogry O'Clery.
26 OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MSS.
LECT. I. bourhood of London, and that of Sir Thomas Phillipps in Wor- cestershire. The Advocates' Library in Edinburgh contains a Continent, few important vohimes, some of which are shortly described in the Highland Society's Report on MacPherson's Poems of Oisin, published in 1794.
And passing over to the Continent, in the National or Im- perial Library of Paris (which, however, has not yet been thoroughly examined), there will be found a few Gaedhlic volumes; and in Belgium (between which and Ireland such in- timate relations existed in past times), — and particularly in the Burgundian Library at Brussels, — there is a very important collection, consisting of a part of the treasures formerly in the possession of the Franciscan College of Lou vain, for which our justly celebrated Friar, Michael O'Clery, collected, by transcript and otherwise, all that he could bring together at home of matters relating to the ancient ecclesiastical history of his country. MSS. in the The Louvaiu collection, formed chiefly, if not wholly, by sfc'itlLre's, Fathers Hugh Ward, John Colgan, and Michael O'Clery, be- inRome. twccn the years 1G20 and 1640, appears to have been widely scattered at the French Revolution. For there are in the Col- lege of St. Isidore, in Rome, about twenty volumes of GaedhHc MSS., which we know at one time to have formed part of the Louvain collection. Among these manuscripts now at Rome are some of the most valuable materials for the study of our language and history — the chief of which is an ancient cojjy of the Felire Aengusa, the Martyrology, or Festology of Aengus Cede De, (pron: " KJli DJ"), incorrectly called Aengus the Culdee, who composed the original of this extraordinary work, partly at Tamhlacht^ now Tallaght, in the county of DubKn, and partly at Cliiain Eidhnech in the present Queen's County, in the year 798. The collection contains, besides, the Festology of Cathal M'Guire,^'^^ a work only known by name to the Irish scholars of the present day ; and it includes the autograph of the first volume of the Annals of the Four Masters. There is also a copy, or fragment, of the Liber Hymnorum already spoken of, and which is a work of great importance to the Ecclesiastical History of Ireland; and besides these the collection contains several important pieces relating to Irish History, of which no copies are known to exist elsewhere. It may be hoped, there- fore, that ovxr Holy Father the Pope — who feels such a deep interest in the success of this National Institution — will at no distant day be pleased to take steps to make these invaluable
09) This is probably a copy of Aengus's Festology, with additional Notes by MacGuire, ayIio died a.d. 1499.
OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MSS 27
works accessible to tlie Irish student, by placing them within the lkct. i walls of the Catholic University of Ireland, where only they can be made available to the illustration of the early History of the Catholic Faith in this country.
Lastly should be noticed the Latin MSS. from which Zcuss mps. dcscri di-ew the materials for the Irish portion of his celebrated ^'^'^'^y^''^"ss. Grammatica Celtica (Lipsias, 1853). The language of the Irish glosses in these codices is probably older, in point of transcription, than any specimens of Irish now left in Ire- land, excepting the few passages and glosses contained in the Books of Armagh and Dimma, with the orthography and grammatical forms of which the Zeussian glosses correspond admirably. The following is a list of the Zeussian Codices Hibernici, which, as Zeuss himself observes, are all of the eighth or the ninth century, and were either brought from Ireland, or written by Irish monks in continental monasteries.
I. A codex of Priscian, preserved in the hbrary [at St. Gall in Switzerland, and crowded Avith Irish glosses, interhnear or marcrinal, from the bewinninor down to page 222. A mar- ginal gloss at p. 194, shows that the scribe was connected with Inis Madoc, an islet in the lake of Templeport, coimty Leitrim.
II. A codex of St. Paxil's Epistles, preserved in the library of the university of Wiirzburg, and containing a still greater nimiber of glosses than the St. Gall Priscian.
III. A Latin commentary on the Psalms, formerly attributed to St. Jerome, but which Muratori, Peyi'on, and Zeuss concvu' in ascribing to St. Columbamis. This codex, which is now preserved in the Ambrosian Hbrary at Milan, was brought thither from Bobbio. It contains a vast amount of Irish glosses, and will probably, when properly investigated,*^"^ throw more hght on the ancient Irish language than any other MS.
IV. A codex containing some of the venerable Bede's works, preserved at Carlsruhe, and formerly belonging to the Irish monastery of Reichenau. This MS. contains, besides many Irish glosses, two entries which may tend to fix its date : one is a notice of the death of Aed, king of Ireland, in the year 817; the other a notice of the death oi Muirchad mac Maileddin at Clonmacnois, in St. Ciaran's hnda or bed.
V. A second codex of Priscian, also preserved at Caiisrulie,
(20^ Zeuss (Praef., xxxi.) mentions that he was unable to devote the neces- sary time either to this MS. or to the fragment of an Irish codex preserved at Turin, wliich, I believe, is a copiously glossed portion of St. Mark's Gosiiel.
28 OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MS3.
LECT. I. and brought thither from Reichenan. It contains fewer Irish d cri glosses than the St. Gall Priscian. bedbyzeuss. VI. A miscellaneous codex, preserved at St. Gall (No. 1395), and containing some curious charms against strangiuy, headache, etc., which have been printed by Zeuss. Goihnenn the smith, and Diancecht the leech, of the Taatlia De Danann, are mentioned in these incantations.
VII. A codex preserved at Cambray, and containing, besides the canons of an Irish council held a.d. 684, a fragment of an Irish sermon intermixed with Latin sentences. This MS. was written between the years 763 and 790. A facsimile, but inaccurate, of this Irish fragment may be found in Appen- dix A (unpublished) to the Report of the Enghsh Record Com- mission.*^^^^
It is, I may observe in conclusion, a circumstance of great importance, that so much of our ancient tongue should have been preserved in the form of glosses on the words of a lan- guage so thoroughly knoA\n.i as Latin. Let us avail ourselves of our advantages in this respect by collecting and aiTanging the whole of these glosses, before time or accident shall have rendered it difficult or impossible to do so.
I have thus endeavoured to place before you some evidences of an early cultivation of the language and literature of Ire- land. The subject would require much more extensive illus- tration and much more minute discussion than can be given to it in a public Lecture; and time did not allow more than a rapid enumeration of the more ancient works, and a brief glance at their contents, such as you have heard. Sufficient, however, has been said in opening to you the consideration of the subject, to show what an immense field lies before us, and what abundant materials still exist for the illustration of the History and Antiquities of our country, and, above all, of that most glorious period in our Annals, the early ages of Catholi- cism in Ireland.
The materials are, I say, still abundant : we want but men able to use them as they deserve.
(21) This Sermon is printed entire, together with corrections and a translation furnished by me some years ago (through the Kev. J. Miley, then President of tlie Irish College in Paris), in the Bibliothvque de I'Ecole des Charles, 3""= serie, tome S'"*^'- Janv.-Fevr., 1852, 3'"'' livraison, p 193. [Paris: Dumoulin, 1852.]
LECTURE II.
[Delivered 15th JIarch, 1855.]
Of the Cuilmenn. Of the Tain bo Chuailgne. Of Cormac Mac Airt. Of the Book of Acaill.
In speaking of the earliest written documents of ancient Erinn, ofthe of which any account has come down to us, I mentioned that Cuilmenn. we had incidental notices of the existence, at a very remote period, of a Book called the Cuilmenn^ It is brought under consideration by references made to a very ancient tale, of which copies still exist. The first notices of the Cuilmenn have been already partly alluded to in the first lecture, but we shall now consider them at greater length ; and in doing so, we shall avail ourselves ofthe opportiuiity thus afforded, to illustrate, in passing, a period of our history, remote indeed, and but little known, yet filled with stirring incidents, and distinguished by the presence of very remarkable characters.
According to the accovuits given in the Book of Leinster, to which I shall presently refer, Dalian ForgaiU, the chief poet and File of Erinn, [see ante, note (2)] (author of the celebrated Amhra or post mortem Panegyric on St. Colum Cille), having died about the year 598, Senclian Torpeist, then a File of dis- tinction, was called upon to pronounce the funeral elegy or oration on the deceased bard. The young File acquitted him- self of this so much to the satisfaction of his assembled brethren, that they immediately elected him Ard Ollamh in Filedecht, that is chief File of Erinn.
Some time after this, Senchan called a meeting ofthe Files of of the i-eoo- Erinn, to ascertain whether any of them remembered the Avhole xfue of the of the celebrated tale of the Tain Bo Chuailgne, or " Cattle J!'/"' .f*^ . spod of Cuailgne" (a place now called Cooley, m the modern county of Louth). All the Files said that they remembered only fragments of it. On recei\dng this answer, Senchan ad- di-essed himself to his pupils, and asked if any of them would take his blessing and go into the country of Letlia to learn the Tain, which a certain Saoi or professor had taken to the east after the Cuilmenn (that is, the Book called Cuilmenn), had been •
carried away. (Letha was the ancient name, in the Gaedhilg, for Italy, particularly that region of it in which the city of Rome is situated). — [See Appendix, No. Xyill.]
30 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS
LECT. II. Emine, tlie grandson of Ninene, and Murgen, Senchan's own son, volunteered to go to the east for tliat purpose.
The Tcfin Bo • • • • -i
Cuaiign^re- Having Set out on tlieir journey, it happened that the first
^guf^Mac^^^' place to which they came was the grave ol' the renowned chief
Edigh. Fcrgus Mac E,6igh, in Connacht ; and Murgen sat at the grave
while Emine went in search of a house of hospitahty.
While Murgen was thus seated he composed and spoke a laidh, or lay, for the gravestone of Fergus, as if it had been Fergus himself he was addressing.
Suddenly, as the story runs, there came a great mist which enveloped him so that he coidd not be discovered for three days ; and during that time Fergus himself appeared to him in a beautiful form, — for he is described as adorned with brown hair, clad in a green cloak, and wearing a collared gold-ribbed shirt, a gold-hilted sword, and sandals of bronze : and it is said that this apparition related to Murgen the whole tale of the Tdhi, from beginning to end, — the tale which he was sent to seek in a foreign land.
This Fergus Mac Roigh was a great Ulster prince, who had gone into voluntary exile, into Connacht, through feelings of disHke and hostility to Conor Mac Nessa, the king of Ulster, for his treacherously putting to death the sous of Uisnech, for whose safety Fergus had pledged his faith according to the knightly customs of the time. And afterwards when the Tain Bo Chuailgne occurred, Fergus was the great giude and director of the expedition on the side of the Connacht men against that of Conor Mac Nessa, and, as it would appear, he was hunself also the historian of the war.
This version of the story is from the Book of Leinster. However, according to another account, it was at a meeting of the Files, and some of the saints of Erinn, which was held near the Carn, or grave that Fergus appeared to them and related the tale ; and St. Ciaran thereupon wrote down the tale at his dic- tation, in a book which he had made from the hide of his pet cow. This cow from its colour was called the Odliar, or dark gray ; and from this circumstance the book was ever after known as Leabhar na h-Uidhre (^^ron: nearly " Lewar, or Lowr na heer-a"), or "The Book of the dark gray [Cow]", — the form Uidhre being the genitive case of the word Odhm'.
According to this account (which is that given in the ancient tale called Imtlieclit na troni ddimlie, or the Adventures of the I Great Company, i.e., the company or following of Senchan),
after the election of Senchan to the position of Chief File, he paid a visit to Guaire the Hospitable, King of Connacht, at his palace of Durlus, accompanied by a large retinue of atten-
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 31
dants, or subordinate files, aud piipils, as well as women, and lect. ii. servants, and dogs; so tliat tlieir sojovirn there was so oppres- sive, that at their going away, Marhhan, King Guaire's wise to the lost brother, imposed it as an obligation on Senchan to recover the '"'"'*'"'• Tale of the Tain Bo Chuailgne. Senchan accordingly went into Scotland to search for it, but having foimd no trace of it there, he retiu-ned home again ; and then Marhlian advised him to invite the saints of Ireland to meet him at the grave of Fergus, where they were to fast three days and three nights to God, praying that he would send them Fergus to relate to them the history of the Tain. The story goes on to say that St. Caillin of Fiodhnacha (m the present county of Leitrim), who was Senchan's brother by his mother, undertook to invite the saints ; and that the following distinguished saints came to the meeting, namely, St. Colum Cille, St. Caillin himself, St. Ciaran of Clonmacnois, St. Brendan of Birra, and St. Brendan the son of Finnlogha; and that after their fast and prayer, Fergus did appear to them, and related the story, and that St. Ciaran of Clonmacnois, and St. Caillin of Fiodluiacha, wrote it down.
This ancient tale is referred to in the Book of Leinster, a MS. of the earlier half of the twelfth century, though it re- mains to us only in the form preserved in copies of a much . more modern date, one of which is in my possession.
The next notice of a Cuihnenn, as 1 have already shortly stated, is to be found in an ancient glossary, where the " seven Orders of Wisdom", — that is, the seven degrees in a Hterary college, including the student on his first entrance, — are distin- guished by name and qualifications. The highest degree was the Druimcli, who, as it is stated, had knowledge " of all wis- dom, from the greatest book which is called Cuilmenn to the smallest book which is called Deich m-Breithir, in which is well arranged the good Testament which God made unto Moses". — [See Appendix, No. V.]
What the Cuilmenn mentioned here was, we have no positive means of knomng ; but as an acquaintance with both profane and sacred writings is set down amongst the qualification of each degree of the order of Wisdom, it may be assumed that the Cuilmenn embraced profane, as the Deich m-Breitliir did sacred learning ; since it appears that the Drumcli was versed in all profane and sacred knowledge.
Another instance of the occm'rence of the word Cuilmenn is found in the lower margin of a page of the book now called the Leabhar Breac, the proper name of which was Leahhar Mor Duna Doighre, that is, the Great Book of Dun Doighre (a
32 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT. II. place on tlie Connaclit side of tlie Shannon, some miles below \ccountof ^^® town of Atlilone). In this book, which is preserved in the the Tain Bo Library of the Royal Irish Academy, the following words appear tia^'jn ■ ^^ ^ hand three hundi'ed years old: — "A trymg of his pen by Fergal, son of William, on the great Cuilmend". — [See Appen- dix, No. XIX.] This " great Cuilmend" was of course the book on which he wrote these words, viz., the Leabhar Duna Doighre jnst mentioned; and this passage establishes the use of the word to designate a book, generally. It may be also ob- served that the word (Cuilmenn) in its original meaning lite- rally signifies the skin of a covv.*^^^-*
To retm'n to the Tciin B6 Chuailgne.
This tale belongs to a period of considerable antiquity, and in it we find introduced in the course of the narration the names of several personages who acted a very important part in our history, and whose deeds are recorded by most of our annalists. As the tale is itself curious and interesting, and be- sides supplies a pretty good view of the customs and manners of the times, it will be interesting to give you here a brief sketch of it.
When the Argonautic Expedition, the Siege of Troy, or any others of the notable occurrences of the very old pei-iods of the world's history, are brought under consideration, not the least interesting and valuable features which they present are the illustrations they furnish us of the habits and life of the various people to whom they relate, and it is of little moment to attempt to fix the precise year of the world's age in which they actually happened.
Some persons complain that our Irish Annals are too precise in the time and place assigned to remote events, to be altoge- ther true; but this is a subject not to be disposed of in a cur- sory review like the present. At present my intention is only to draw briefly, for the purpose of illustration, from one of the oldest and most remarkable of our national historic tales. I do
(22) That the word Cvnbnent-i signified, in the first instance, a Cow-skin, appears from the following passage in an ancient Glossary hi the Library of the Royal Irish Academy (MS. No. 74 of the collection, purchased from Messrs. Hodges and Smith): ColAi-nnA -peA^xb, .i. Ctiibneniux -peA-tAb; "the skins of cows", — from ctiilme-nn a skin, and i:eA|\b a cow. That the word Cuibmenii Avas applied to a Book, is proved not only by the passage above quoted, in wliich the leAbAiA in6|\ 'Ouiia •Ooij^Ne is so called, but still more di- rectly by an explanation of it which is to be found in another ancient Glos- sary, preserved in a IMS. in the Library of Trin. Coll., Dublin (classed H. 3. 18.). In this Glossary the word occurs in reference to the lost book above mentioned, and to the quotation from it alluded to in the text: — " Cuiimenn, i e., a Book ; ut est: ' Which the Professor carried to the East after the Cuil- menw'".— [See original in Appendix, No. XX.]
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 3*3
not propose here to enter into any critical discussion as to the lect. n. historic accuracy of its details ; but I may observe that, though often exhibiting liigh poetic colouring in the description of par- the Tain no ticular circumstances, it unquestionably embraces and is all ""*^^" • through founded upon authentic historic facts. The Tain Bo Chuailgnc is to Irish, what the Argonautic Expedition, or the ScA^en against Thebes, is to Grecian history.
Many copies of the tale still exist. As has been seen, we have traced it back to one of perhaps the oldest written records, one of which we now retain little more than the name.. We know unfortunately nothing of the other contents of the Cuihnenn; but if we may judge from the character of the events detailed in the Tidn, we may fairly suppose this Great Book to have been a depository of the most remarkable occurrences which had taken place in Ancient Erinn up to the time of its composition.
We are told in om- Annals and other ancient writings, that Eochaidh Feidlech closed a reign of twelve years as Monarch of Erinn in Anno Mundi 5069, or a little above a hundred years before the Incarnation, according to the chronology of the Annals of the Four Masters. This prince was directly descended from Eremon (one of the surviving leaders of the Milesian colo- nists), and succeeded to the monarchy by right of descent.
Eochaidh had three sons and several daughters, and among his daughters one named Meadhhh (pron: "Meav"), who, from her early youth, exhibited remarkable traits of strength of mind and ^agour of character Meav, in the full bloom of life and beau.ty, was married to Conor, the celebrated provincial King of Ulster ; but the marriage was not a happy one, and she soon left her husband and returned to her father's court. The reign of the monarch, her father, had at this time been embittered by the rebellion of his three sons, which was carried so far that he was at last compelled to give them battle ; and a final engage- ment took place between the two parties at Ath Cumair (the ancient name of a ford near MuUingar), in which the king's arms triumphed, and his three sons were slain.
The victory over his sons brought but little peace to Eoch- aidh; for the men of Connacht, taking advantage of his weak- ened condition after it, revolted against him ; and to overcome their opposition he set up his daughter Meav as Queen of Con- nacht, and gave her in marriage to Ailill, a powerful chief of that province, and son of Conrach, a former king — the same Conrach who built the royal residence of Rath CruachanP^^ Ailill died soon after, and Meav finding herself a young widow,
(-3) The remains of tlie Eatb of Cruachan are still to be seen, near Carrick- on-Sliannou, in the modern county of Roscommon.
3
34 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT. II. and an independent queen, proceeded to exercise her own riglit and taste in tlie selection of a new husband; and with this view the Tdin Bo shc made a royal progress into Leinster, where Ross Ruadli was Chiiaiign . ^^q-^ king, residing at the residence of the Leinster kings, at Naas. Meav there selected, from the princes of the com"t, the king's younger son, \f\\o bore the same name as her previous husband, Ailill, and whom she married and made king-consoit of her province.
Their union was happy, and Meav became the mother of many sons, and of one daughter.
One day, however (as tlie story runs), a dispute arose between Queen Meav and her husband about their respective wealth and treasures, — for all women at this time had their private fortunes and dowries secured to them in marriage. This dis- pute led them to an actual comparison of their various kinds of property, to determine which of them had the most and the best. There were compared before them then (says the tale) all their wooden and their metal vessels of value; and they were found to be equal. There were brought to them their finger rings, their clasps, their bracelets, their thumb rings, their diadems, and their gorgets of gold ; and they were found to be equal. There were brought to them their gar- ments of crimson, and blue, and black, and green, and yellow, and mottled, and white, and streaked ; and they were found to be equal. There were brought before them their great flocks of sheep, from greens and lawns and plains ; and they were found to be equ.al. There were broiight before them their steeds, and their studs, from pastures and from fields ; and they were found to be equal. There were brought before them their great herds of swine, from forests, from deep glens, and from solitudes ; their herds and their droves of cows were brought before them from the forests and most remote solitudes of the province ; and on counting and comparing them they were found to be equal in niunber and in excellence. But there was found among Ailill's herds a young bull, which had been calved by one of Meav's cows, and which, "not deeming it honourable to be under a woman's control", went over and attached himself to Aihll's herds. The name of tliis fine animal was Finnhlieannach or the Wliite-horned ; and it was formd that the queen had not among her herds one to match him. This was a matter of deep disappointment to her. She immediately ordered Mac Roth, her chief courier, to her jDresence, and asked him if he knew where a young bull to match the Finnbheannacli, or White-horned, could be found among the five provinces of Erinn. Mac Roth answered that he knew where there was a
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 35
better and a finer bull, namely in the possession of Dare, son of lect. n.
Fachtna, in tlie Cantred of Cuailgne and province of Ulster,
and that his name was the Donn Chuailgne, or Brown [Bull] of the T&in no
Cuailgne. Go thou, then, said JMeav, with a request to Dare '"'"'''""^•
from me, for the loan of the Donn Chuailgne for my herds for
one year, and tell him that he shall be well repaid for his loan ;
that he shall receive fifty heifers and the Donn Chuailgne back
at the expiration of that time. And you may make another
proposition to him, said the queen, namely, that should the
people of the district object to his lending us the Donn Chuailgne,
he may come himself with his bull, and that he shall have the
full extent of his ovn\ territory given him of the best lands in
Hagh Ai [Flams of Roscommon], a chariot worth thrice seven
cumals (or sixty -three cows), and my future friendship.
The courier set out with a company of nine subordinates, and in due time arrived in Cuailgne and delivered his message to Dare Mac Fachtna.
Dare received hnn in a true spirit of hospitality, and on learn- ing his errand, consented at once to accept the terms. He then sent the covmer and his company into a separate part of his establishment, furnishing them abundantly with the best of food and drink that liis stores could supply.
In the course of the night, and when deep in their cups, one of the Connacht couriers said to another : It is a truth that the man of this house is a good man, and it is very good of him to grant to us, nine messengers, what it wordd be a great work for the other four great provinces of Erinn to take by force out of Ulster, namely the Donn Chnailgne. Then a third courier in- terposed and said that httle thanks were due to Dare, because if he had not consented fi,xely to give the Donn Chuailgne, he should be compelled to do so.
At this moment Dare's chief steward, accompanied by a man laden with food and another with drink, entered ; and overhear- ing the vaunt of the third courier, flew into a passion and cast down their meat and drmk before them without inviting them to partake of it ; after which he repaired to his master and re- ported to him what he had heard. Dare swore by his gods that they should not have the Donn Chuailgne, either by con- sent or by force.
The couriers appeared before Dare early on the following morning and requested the fulfihnent of his promise ; but he made answer that if it had been a practice of his to punish cou- riers for their impertinence, not one of them should depart alive from him. The couriers returned to their mistress to Rath Cruachan, the royal palace of the kings of Connacht. On his
3b
36 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT. II. arrival Mac Roth related to Meav tlie issue of his embassy and the cause of its failure ; iipon which Meav took up the words the Tcim Bo of licr boastful messengor, and said that as Dare had not granted maiipi , ^1^^ request freely, he should be compelled to do so by force.
Meav accordingly immediately summoned her sons to her presence, as well as the seven sons of Ilagach, her relatives, with all their forces and followers. She also invited the men of Muns- ter and Leinster to join her cause, and take vengeance on the Ulstermen for the many wrongs which they had of old inflicted on them. There was besides at this time a large body of exiled Ulstermen in Meav's ser\ace, namely, those who had abandoned Conor after his treachery to the sons of Uisneach. This body of brave men, amounting to fifteen hundi'ed, was under the lea- dership of Fergus Mac Roigh and Conor's own son, Cormac Conloingeas, or the Exile.
All these forces met at Cruachain; and after consulting her Druid, and a. Bean sidhe (pron: nearly " banshee"), ^^^^ who ap- peared to her, Meav set out at the head of her troops, crossed the Shannon at Athlone, and marched through ancient Meath, till she had arrived at the place now called Kells (within a fcAV miles of the borders of the modern county of Louth, in Ulster), where she encamped her army. Meav's consort, Ailill, and their daughter, Finnahhair (the Fairbrowed), accompanied the expedition. When they had encamped for the night, the queen invited all the leaders of the army to feast with her, and in the course of the evening contrived to enter into a private conversation with each of the most brave and powerful amongst them, exhortig them to valoiu" and fidelity in her cause, and secretly promising to each the hand of her beautiful daugliter in marriage. So far the plot of the tale as regards Queen Meav's movements.
(21^ The word beAn -p-oe (literally, " woman of the fairy mansions"), meant a Woman from the fairy mansions of the Hills, or the land Immortality. In other words, it meant, according to the ancient legendary belief, a Woman of that Tiiath De Dunann race Avhicli preceded the Milesians, and which, on their con- quest by the latter, were believed to have retired from this life to enjoy an in- visible inmiortaUty in the hills, fountains, lakes, and islands of Eiinn, where it M-as reported they are to remain till the last Judgment. From this state of existence they were of old believed to be able to reappear at pleasiu-e in the ordinary forms of men and women; and this ancient belief respecting the Titath De Danann (whose sudden disappeai'ance from our ancient history seems to have been only accounted for in this manner) still hngers among the people of modern Ireland, in the form of the superstitious reverence for what they now call the "Pairies" or " Good People". Some account of M'hat they were anciently believed to be will be found in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick. A cmrious example of their api^carance, as introduced in our ancient literature, occurs also in the tale of " The Sick-bed of CuchuUainn", printed in the second number of the Atlantis, for July, 1858. — [See also Appendix, No. XXL]
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS 37
Although the Ulstermen had sufficient notice of the approach lect. ir. of such a formidable invasion, they exhibited no sims of de- , ^ ^
rm • • 1 • • 1 • • Account of
tensive preparation. Ihis singular inaction on their part is ac- the Tain bo counted for in another talc so often spoken of as the Ceasnaidh- ""' ^" ' ean Uladh, or Child-birth-debility of the Ultonians.
It happened that Meav's expedition into Louth occurred at the very time that Conor and all the warriors of Emania were suffering imder the effects of the curse described in that tale, so that the border lay quite unguarded except by one youth. This youth was the renowned Cuclmlainn, whose patrimony was the first part of Ulster that the hostile forces entered upon, and within it the owner of the Donn Chuailgne resided.
This part of the tale relates many wonderful and various stories of Cuchulainn's youthful achievements, which compli- cate it to no small extent, but on the other hand, make no small addition to its interest.
Cuchulainn confronts the invaders of liis province, demands single combat, and conjures his opponents by the laws of Irish chivah-y (the Fir comhlairm) not to advance farther until they conquered him. This demand, in accordance with the Irish laws of warfare, is granted ; and then the whole contest is re- solved into a succession of single combats, in each of which Cuchulainn was victorious.
Soon, however, Meav, impatient of this slow mode of pro- ceeding, broke through the compact with Cuchulainn, marched forward herself at the head of a section of her army, and biuiied and ravaged the province up to the very precincts of Conor's palace at Emania. She had by this time secvu'ed the Donn Chuailgne ; and she now marched her forces back into Meath and encamped at Clartha (pron : " Clarha", — now Clare Castle m the modern comity of Westmeath).
In the meantime the Ulstermen having recovered from the temporary state of debility to which the curse above alluded to had subjected them, Conor summoned all the chiefs of his pro- vince to muster their forces and join his standard in the pursuit of the army of Connacht. This done, they marched in separate bodies, under their respective chiefs, and took up a position in the immediate neighbourhood of Meav's camp. The march and array of these troops, including Cuchulainn's, — the distin- giiishing descriptions of their horses, chariots, arms, ornaments, and vesture, — even their size, and complexion, and the colour of their hair, — are described with great vividness and power. In the story the description of all these details is delivered by Meav's courier, Mac Roth, to her and her husband ; and the recognition of the various chiefs of Ulster as they arrived at
38 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT. II. Conor's camp is ascribed to Fergus Mac Roigh, the exiled
p r- nai Ulstcr princc already spoken of. I may quote tlie following
description sliort passages, merely as specimens of the kind of description
ciiiettin\iie tlius givcu by Mac Roth to Meav and AiHll:
Tdiii^Bo^^ "There came another company there, said Mac Roth; no
chuaiigni. cliampiou could bc found more comely than he who leads them.
His hair is of a deep red yellow, and bushy ; liis forehead broad
and his face tapering ; he has sparkling blue laughing eyes ; —
a man regularly formed, tall and tapering ; thin red lips ; pearly,
shiny teeth ; a white, smooth body. A red and white cloak
flutters about him ; a golden brooch in that cloak, at his breast ;
a shirt of white, kingly linen, with gold embroidery at his
skin ; a white shield, with gold fastenings at his shoulder ; a
gold-hilted long sword at his left side ; a long, sharp, dark green
spear, together "with a short, sharp spear, with a rich band and
carved silver rivets in his hand. Who is he, O Fergus, said
AiKU? The man who has come there is in himself half a
battle, the valour of combat, the fury of the slaughter- hoimd.
His is Reochaid Mac Fatlieman (pron: " Faheman"), from
Rigdonn [or Rachlainn], in the north [said Fergus".] — [See
original in Appendix, No. XXII.] And again: —
" Another company have come to the same hill, at Slemain of Meath, said Mac Roth, with a long-faced, dark complexioned champion at their head ; [a champion] with black hair and long limbs, i.e., long legs; wearing a red shaggy cloak wrapped round him, and a white silver brooch in the cloak over his heart ; a linen shirt to his skin ; a blood-red shield with devices at his shoulder ; a silver-hilted sword at his left side ; an elbowed gold-socketed spear to his shoulder. Who is he, O Fergus ? said AiHll to Fergus. We know him well indeed, said Fergus ; he is Fergna, the son of Finncona, chief of Burach, in Ulster".'-^^^ — [See original in Appendix, No. XXIII.]'
And again : "Another company have come to the same hill m Sleamain of Meath, said Mac Roth. It is wild, and miHke the other companies. Some are with red cloaks; others with light blue cloaks ; others with deep blue cloaks ; others with green, or blay, or white, or yellow cloaks, bright and flut- tering about them. There is a young red-freckled lad, with
(2a) And here, lest it may be thought that these gorgeous descriptions of arms and ornaments are but idle creations of the poet or the Seanchaidhe, drawn from his imagination alone, I may recommend such of my hearers as are doubtful or sceptical on these points to visit and inspect for themselves the rich and beau- tiful collection of the Royal Irish Academy ; when they will find that no pen could do justice to the exquisite workmanship, the graceful design, and dehcate finish of those mirivalled relics of Ancient Irish Art, of which the best modern imitations fall so immeasurably short.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 39
a crimson cloak, in tlieii' midst; a golden broocli in tliat lect. ii. cloak at his breast ; a shirt of kingly linen, -with fastenings ^^ ^^^.^^^ ^^ of red gold at liis skin ; a white shield with hooks of red gold legendary at his shoulder, faced with gold, and with a golden rim ; "he xliiTof'" a small gold-hilted sword at liis side ; a light, sharp, shining ^^^^Jif,'X^° spear to his shoulder. Who is he, my dear Fergus ? said AiliU. I don't remember, indeed, said Fergus, having left any such per- sonages as these in Ulster, when leaving it, — and I can only guess that they are the young princes and nobles of Tara, led by Ere, the son of Conor's daughter Feidilim Nuachriithach^ [or ' of the ever-new form'], and of Carbry Niafear [the king of Tara"]. — [See original in Appendix, No. XXIV.]
With descriptions like these, more or less picturesque, the whole tale abounds. The most remarkable of these, but it is too long for insertion here, is that of Cuchulainn, liis chariot, his horses, and his charioteer, at the battle of Atli Firdiadh, where he killed Ferdiadh in single combat ; a circumstance from which the place has derived its name oi Ath Firdiadh, or Fer- diad's Ford (pronoimced Ardee), in the modern county of Louth.
The armies of Queen Meav and Conor, her former husband, at length met in battle at the hill of Gairech, some distance south- east of Athlone, where the Ulstermen routed their enemies, and drove them in disorder over the Shannon into Connacht. Meav, however, had taken care to secure her prize, the Donn Chu- aihjne, by despatching him to her palace, at Cruachaiu, before the final battle ; and thus, notwithstanding the loss of umnbers of her best champions and warriors, she congratulated herself on having gained the two greatest objects of her expedition, namely, the possession of the Donn Chuailgne, and the chas- tisement of Conor, her former husband, and his proud Ulster- men, at the very gates of his palace at Emania.
This wild tale does not, however, end here ; for it gravely informs us that when the Donn Chuailgne found himself in a strange country, and among strange herds, he raised such a loud bellowing as had never before been heard in the province of Connacht ; that on hearing those unusual sounds, AiHll's bull, the Finnbheannach or White-horned, knew that some strange and formidable foe had entered his territory ; and that he immediately advanced at full speed to the point from which they issued, where he soon arrived in the presence of his noble enemy. The sight of each other was the signal of battle. In the poetic language of the tale, the province rang with the echoes of their roaring, the sky was darkened by the sods of earth they threw up with their feet and the foam that flew from their mouths; faint- hearted men, women, and children hid themselves in caves,
40 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT. ir. caverns, and clefts of tlie rocks ; whilst even tlie most veteran
Histo • "warriors but dared to view the combat from the neighbouring value of the liills and eminences. The Finnhheannach, or White-horned, oit\\l Tdin ^^ length gavc way, and retreated towards a certain pass which aiianT" opcncd into the plain in which the battle raged, and where six- teen warriors bolder than the rest had planted themselves ; but so rapid was the retreat, and the pursuit, that not only were all these trampled to the ground, but they were buried several feet in it. The Donn Chuailgne, at last, coming up with his opponent, raised him on his horns, ran off with him, passed the gates of Meav's palace, tossing and shaking him as he went, until at last he shattered him to pieces, dropping his disjointed members as he went along. And wherever a part fell, that place retained the name of that joint ever after. And thus it was (we are told) that Ath Luahi, now Athlone, which was before called Ath Mar, or the Great Ford, received its present name from the Finnhlieannacli s Luan, or loin, having been dropped there.
The Donn Chuaihjne, after having shaken his enemy in this m.anner from his horns, returned into his OAvn country, but in such a frenzied state of excitement and fury, that all fled every- where at his approach. He faced directly to his old home ; but the people of the haile or hamlet fled, and hid themselves behind a huge mass of rock, which his madmess transformed into the shape of another bull ; so that coming with all his force against it he dashed out his brains, and was killed.
I have dwelt, perhaps rather tediously, on the history of this strange tale ; but one of the objects of this course of Lectures is to give to the student of the Gaedhlic language an idea of the nature of some of the countless ancient compositions con- tained in it ; and notwithstanding the extreme wildness of the legend of the Bull, I am not acquainted mth any tale in the whole range of our literature, in which he will find more of valuable details concerning general and local liistory ; more of description of the manners and customs of the people; of the druidical and fairy influence supposed to be exercised in the affairs of men ; of the laws of Irish chivalry and honour ; of the standards of beauty, morality, valour, truth, and fidelity, recognized by the people of old ; of the regal power and dig- nity of the monarch and the provincial kings, as well as much concerning the division of the country into its local dependencies ; lists of its chieftains and chieftaincies ; many valuable topogra- phical names ; the names and kinds of articles of dress and or- nament ; of military weajDons ; of horses, chariots, and trap- pings ; of leechcraft, and of medicinal plants and springs ; as well
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 41
as instances of, perhaps, every occnrrence that could be supposed lect. ii. to happen in ancient Irish Hfe : all of these details of the utmost ~
value to the student of history, even though mixed up with any quity ofthe amount of the marvellous or incredible in poetical traditions. <^'t"''"enn.
The chief actors in this "svarfare are all "well-known and un- doubted historical characters, and are to be met with not only in our ancient tales, but in our authentic annals also.
Tighernach (the most credited in our days of all our an- nalists) mentions the Tain Bo Chuailgnh, and gives the age of Cuchulainn as scA^enteen at the time he followed the Tain, which IS calculated by OTlaherty to have taken place about a.d. 39. — [See Appendix, No. XX V.J
As I have already stated, this tale may be traced back to the first record to which we find the name of Cuilmenn attached, but of which we have now no means of fixing the precise date, any more than the nature and character of its other contents.
I have ventm-ed to assign the compilation of the Cuihnenn, or Great Book of Skins, to an earlier date than that of the Saltair of Tara, which was compiled about the middle of the third, and the Gin Droma Snechta, which has been traced to the close of the fourth or beginning of the fifth century ; and for two rea- sons, among many others. The first is, that the manner in which the Cuilmenn is spoken of, in the time of Senchann and Saint Cohun Cille, implies a belief on their part that the tale of the Tain had been written, in an authentic form, either in a separate volume, or into this book, at or immediately after the occurrence of the events so graphically narrated in it ; and the fact, as related, of Saint Ciaran writing the recovered version of it, no matter from what source it was obtained at the time, on the skin of his pet cow, shows that this was done with the clear intention of handing it down to posterity as nearly as possible in the same form as that in which tradition had taught them to believe it had existed in the Cuilmenn.
The second reason is, that, from the part which is ascribed to Fergus in the conduct of the expedition, the frequent mention in the tale of liis reading the Ogham writings, and using their characters liimself, and the jDretended revelation of it at his grave, to Seanchan's pupil, in the one version, as well as the recovery of it, according to another account, at a great meeting of poets and ecclesiastics, said to have taken place at his grave, it appears, to me at least, that there is sufiicient ground to warrant the con- jecture, that in the times of Seanchan and Saint Colum Cille, it was generally believed that Fergus was the original writer of the tale, that it had been written by him, or by some person of his time, into a great book, and that this book was at some sub-
42
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
Of the Saltair of Taba.
Of King Cormac Mac Airt.
sequent period carried out of the country ; and this, as we have said before, jDrobably may have taken place in the early Chris- tian times. It is also not impossible that it was followed by the owner or keeper of it, who, from his being called a Saoi, that is, a Doctor or Professor in learning, was probably, it may be sup- posed, converted to Christianity, and went into Italy, as many certainly did in those times, carrying with him the only copy or copies then in existence. It would be curious to find this ancient book still existing in some neglected corner of the Vatican, or of one of the other great Libraries of Italy.
In the first lectvu'e (to pass to the next of our oldest lost books), we partly considered the history of that very ancient record, now lost, known as the Saltair of Tara. It was stated that its composition is referred to the period of the reign of Cormac Mac Art (^Cormac Mac Airt, or son of Art), and that by some this king was actually supposed to have been its author.
To give full value to all the evidence we possess as to the nature of this record, the time at which it was said to have been composed, and its reputed author, it will be necessary for us to enter into a brief historical account of the period, and to give some particulars about this celebrated prince ; from which I con- ceive it will be fully evident, that to attribute the composition of the Saltair to the time of Cormac, or even to state that he was its author, would be to make no extravagant assumption.
The character and career of Cormac Mac Art, as a governor, a warrior, a philosopher, and a judge deeply versed in the laws which he was called on to administer, have, if not from his own time, at least from a very remote period, formed a fruitful subject for panegyric to the poet, the historian, and the legislator.
Om' oldest and most accredited annals record his victories and military glories ; our historians dwell with rapture on his honour, his justice, and the native dignity of his character; our writers of historical romance make him the hero of many a tale of curious adventure ; and our poets find in his personal accom- plishments, and in the regal splendom* of his reign, inexhaus- tible themes for their choicest numbers.
The poet Maelmura, of Othna, who died a.d. 844, styles him Cormac Ceolach, or the Musical, in allusion to his refined and happy mind and disposition. Cinaeth (or Kenneth) O'Harti- gan (who died a.d. 973) gives a glowing description of the magnificence of Cormac and of his palace at Tara. And Cuan O'Lochain, quoted in the former lecture, and who died a.d. 1024, is no less eloquent on the subject of Cormac's mental and personal qualities and the glories of his reign. He also, in the poem which has been already quoted, describes the con-
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 43
dition aud dispc \ion of the rulus of the principal edifices at lect. ii. Tara, as they e' ated in his time ; for, even at this early period ^^.^^^^ ^^ (1024), the x^ ,- dl Tara was but a ruin. Flann, of Saint Buithes KingCormaG Monastery, who died a.d. 1056 (the greatest, perhaps, of the ' ""^ scholars, historians, and poets of his time), is equally fluent in praise of Cormac as a king, a warrior, a scholar, and a judge.
Cormac's father. Art, chief monarch of Erinn, was killed in the Battle of Jfar/h Jlucruimhe that is, the Plain of MucruimM (pron: " Mucrivy") about a.d. 195, by Mac Con, who was the son of his sister. Tliis Mac Con was a Munster prince, who had been banished out of Erinn by OiHll Oluim, King of Mun- ster; after which, passing into Britain and Scotland, he returned in a few years at the head of a large army of foreign adven- tiu'ers, commanded chiefly by Benne Brit, son of the King of Britain. They sailed round by the south coast of Ireland, and lauded in the Bay of Gal way ; and, being joined there by some of Mac Con's Irish adherents, they overran and ravaged the country of West Connacht. Art, the monarch, immediately mustered all the forces that he could command, and marched into Connacht, where he was joined by Mac Con's seven (or six) step-brothers, the sons of Oilill Olum, with the forces of Munster. A battle ensued, as stated above, on the Plain of ]\Iucruimlie (between Athenree and Galway), in which Art was killed, leaving behind him an only son, Cormac, usually dis- tinguished as Cormac Mac Airt, that is, Cormac the son of Art.
On the death of his tmcle Art, Mac Con assumed the monarchy of Erinn, to the prejudice of the young prince Cor- mac, who was still in liis boyhood, and who was forced to lie con- cealed for the time among his mother's friends in Connacht.
Mac Con's usm-pation, and his severe rule, disposed his svibjects after some time to wish for his removal ; and to that end young Cormac, at the solicitation of some powerful friends of his father, appeared suddenly at Tara, where his j)erson had by this time ceased to be known. One day, we are told, he entered the judgment hall of the palace at the moment that a case of royal privilege was brought before the king, Mac Con, for adjudication. For the king in ancient Erinn was, in eastern fashion, behoved to be gifted with pecuHar wisdom as a judge among liis people ; and it was a part of his duty, as well as one of the chief privileges of his prerogative, to give judgment in any cases of difficulty brought before him, even though the litigants might be among the meanest of his subjects, and the subject of litigation of the smallest value. The case is thus related : Certain sheep, the pro- perty of a certain widow residing near Tara, had strayed into the queen's private lawn, and eaten of its grass; they were captured
LECT. II.
of Coi-mac Mac Airt.
44 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
by some of tlie houseliolcl officers, and tlie case was brought be- fore the king for judgment. The king, on hearing the case, con- deJcHpUon dcmucd the sheep to be forfeited. Young Cormac, hoAvever, hearmg this sentence, exclaimed that it was unjust ; and declared that as the sheep had eaten but the fleece of the land, the most that they ought to forfeit should be their own fleeces. This view of the law appeared so wise and reasonable to the people around, that a murmur of approbation ran through the hall. Mac Con started from his seat and exclaimed : " That is the judgment of a king" ; and, immediately recognizing the youthful prince, ordered him to be seized; but Cormac succeeded in effecting his escape. The people, then, having recognized their rightful chief, soon revolted against the monarch ; upon which Mac Con was driven into Munster, and Cormac assumed the government at Tara. And thus commenced one of the most brilliant and important reigns in Irish history.
The following description of Cormac, from the Book of Bal- lymote (142, b.b.), gives a very vivid picture of the person, man- ners, and acts of this monarch, which it gives however on the authority of the older Book of Uaclionghhail; and, even though the language is often high-coloured, it is but a picturesque clothing for actual facts, as we know from other sources, — [See original in Appendix, No. XXVL]
" A noble and illustrious king assmned the sovereignty and rule of Erinn, namely, Cormac, the grandson of Conn of the Hundred Battles. The world was full of all goodness in his time ; there were fruit and fatness of the land, and abundant pro- duce of the sea, with peace, and ease, and happiness, in his time, There were no killings nor plunderings in his time, but every one occupied his lands in happiness.
" The nobles of Erinn assembled to drink the banquet of Tara, with Cormac, at a certain time. These were the kings who were assembled at that feast, namely, Fergus Dubhdeadach (of the black teeth), and Eocliaidh Gunnat, the two kings of Ulster ; Dunlang, son of Enna Nia, king of Leinster ; Cormac Cas, son of AiHU Oluim, — and Fiacha Muilleatlian, son of Eoghan 3l6r, the two kings of Munster ; Nia Mar, the son of Lugaidh Firtri, Cormac's brother by his mother, and Eocliaidh, son of Conall, the two kings of Connacht ; Oengus of the poisoned spear, king of Bregia (East Meath) ; and Feradhach the son of Asal, son of Conor the champion, king of Meath.
" The manner in which fairs and great assemblies were at- tended by the men of Erinn, at this time, was : each king wore his kingly robe upon him, and his golden helmet on his head ; for, they never put their kingly diadems on, but in the field of battle only.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 45
" ^Magnificently did Connac come to this great assembly; for lect. ii. no man, his equal in beauty, had preceded him, excepting Co- naive JJor, son of Edersgel, or Conor, son of Cathhadh (pron: ^tv^atiaia. nearly " Caa-fah"), or Aengus, son of the Daghda. Splendid, indeed, was Cormac's appearance in that assembly. His hair was slightly curled, and of golden colour : a scarlet shield with engraved devices, and golden hooks, and clasps of silver: a wide-folding purple cloak on him, with a gem-set gold brooch over his breast ; a gold torque around his neck ; a white-collared shirt, embroidered Avith gold, upon him ; a girdle with golden buckles, and studded with precious stones, aroimd him; two golden net-work sandals with golden buckles upon him ; two spears with golden sockets, and many red bronze rivets, in his hand; while he stood in the full glow of beauty, withou.t defect or blemish. You would think it was a shower of pearls that were set in his mouth ; his lips were rubies ; his symme- trical body was as white as snow; his cheek was like the mountain-ash berry ; his eyes were like the sloe ; his brows and eye lashes were like the sheen of a blue-black lance.
" This, then, was the shape and form in which Cormac went to this great assembly of the men of Erinn. And authors say that this was the noblest convocation ever held in Erinn before the Christian Faith ; for, the laws and enactments instituted in that meeting were those which shall prevail in Erinn for ever.
" The nobles of Erinn proposed to make a new classification of the people, according to their various mental and material quaHfi- cations; both kings and ollamhs (or chiefs of professions), and druids, and farmers, and soldiers, and all difierent classes like- wise ; because they were certain, that, whatever regulations should be ordered for Erinn in that assembly, by the men of Eiinn, would be those which would live in it for ever. For, from the time that Amergen Gluingeal (or of the White Knee), the File (or Poet) and one of the chiefs of the Milesian colonists, deli- vered the first judgment in Erinn, it was to the Files alone that belonged the right of pronouncing judgments, until the dispu- tation of the Two Sages, Ferceirtne the File, and Neidhe, son of Adhna, at Emauia, about the beautiful mantle of the chief File, Adhna, who had lately died. More and more obscure to the people, were the words in which these two Files discussed and decided their dispute ; nor could the kings or the other Files understand them. Concobar (or Conor), and the other princes, at that time present at Emania, said that the disputation and deci- sion could be understood only by the two parties themselves, for that thei/ did not imderstand them. It is manifest, said Concobar: all men shall have share in it from this day out for ever, but they
46 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT. II. [the Files] sliall have tlieir liereditary judgment out of it; ol what all others require, every man may take his share of it. cormac Mac Judgment was then taken from the Files, except their inheritance ^*'''" of it, and several of the men of Erinn took their part of the judg-
ment; such as the judgments of ^oc/ia^c?/i, the son oi Luchta; and the judgments of Fachtna, the son of Senchadh; and the (aj)parently) false judgments of Caradniadh Teisctlie; and the judgments of Morann, the son of Maen ; and the judgments of Eoghan, the son of Durrthaclit [king of Farney] ; and the judgments of Doet of JVeimthenn, and the judgments of Brigh Anibui [daughter of Senchadli] ; and the judgments of Dian- cecht [the Tuath De Dandnn Doctor] in matters relating to medical doctors. Although these were thus first ordered at this time, the nobles of the men of Erinn (subsequently) insis- ted on judgment and eloquence (advocacy) being allowed to persons according to rank in the Bretha Nemlieadh (laws of ranks) ; and so each man usurped the profession of another again, until this great meeting assembled around Cormac. They then again separated the professors of every art from each other in that great meeting, and each of them was or- dained to liis legitimate profession".
And thus when Cormac came to the sovereignty of Erinn, he found that Conor's regulations had been disregarded ; and this was what induced the nobles to propose to him a new organization, in accordance with the advancement and progress of the people, from the former period. And this Cormac did ; for he ordered a new code of laws and regulations to be drawn up, extending to all classes and professions. He also put the state or court regulations of the Teach Midhchuarta, or Great Banqueting House of Tara, on a new and permanent footing; and revived obsolete tests and ordeals, and instituted some important new ones ; thus making the law of Testimony and Evidence as perfect and safe as it could be in such times.
If we take this, and various other descriptions of Cormac's character as a man, a king, a scholar, a judge, and a warrior, into account, we shall see that he was no ordinary prince ; and that if he had not impressed the nation with a full sense of his great superiority over his predecessors and those who came after him, there is no reason why he should have been specially selected from all the rest of the line of monarchs, to be made above all the possessor of such excellences.
Such a man could scarcely have carried out his various be- hests, and the numerous provisions of his comprehensive enact- ments, without some written medium. And it is no unwar- rantable presumption to suppose that, either by his own hand,
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
47
or, at least, in his own time, by liis command, liis laws were lect. it. committed to writing ; and wlien we possess very ancient tes- ^j^^ j^^^^ timony to tliis effect, I can see no reason for reiectinff it, or andiegai
% . Kf o * writiiitrs of
even for casting a doubt upon the statement. King cormac
It is not probable that any laws or enactments forged at a ^^"''^ '^"''" later period, could be imposed on a people who possessed in such abundance the means of testing the genuineness of their origin, by recourse to other sources of information; and the same arguments which apply in the case of the Saltair of Tara, may be used in regard to another work assigned to Cormac, of which mention will be presently made. Nor is this all, but there is no reason whatever to deny that a book, such as the Saltair of Tara is represented to have been, was in existence at Tara a long time before Cormac's reign ; and that Cormac only altered and enlarged it to meet the circiuiistances of his own times.
These bards and druids, of which our ancient records make such frequent mention, must have had some mode of perpetuating their arts, else it would have been impossible for those arts to have been transmitted so faithfully and fully as we know they were. It is true that the student in the learning of the File is said to have spent some twelve years in study, before he was pro- noiniced an adept ; and this may be supposed to imply that the instruction was verbal ; but we have it from various writers, even as late as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, that it was customary with the medical, law, and civil students of these times, to read the classics and study their professions for twenty years.
All this is indeed but presumptive evidence of the possession of writing by the Irish in the time of Cormac ; but, from other sources we have reason to believe that the art existed here long antecedent to his reign: this subject is, however, of too great extent and importance to admit of its full discussion at present.
There still exists, I should state to you, a Law Tract, attri- buted to Cormac. It is called the Book of Acaill ; and is always found annexed to a Law Treatise by Cennfaelad the learned, who died in a.d. 677. The following preface always prefixed to this first work gives its history. — [See original in Appendix, No. XXVIL]
"The locus^'^^ of the Book was Aicill (or Acaill, pron:
(26) It was always the habit of the old Irish -writers to state four circum- stances concerning the comjDosition of their works : the j^Iace at which they were written (or the locus of the work, according to tlie form here used),— the date, — the name of the author, — and the occasion or circumstances which sug- gested the undertaking. Tiiese forms were adhered to by writers using the native language down even to the time of the Four Masters, as will be seen in a subsequent Lecture (VIII.), on the various works of the O'Clerys.
48
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
Of the Book of Acaill.
Of Cenn/ae - lad.
Akill'), near Teamair [Tara] ; and the time of it was tlie time of Cairbre Lifeachair (Cairbre of tlie Liffey), son of Cormac, and the person [author] of it was Cormac; and the cause of making it was, the bhnding of Cormac's eye by Aengus Gabuaideeh (Aengus of the poisoned spear), after the abduction of the daughter of Sorar, son of Art Corb, by Cellach, the son of Cormac. This Aengus Gabuaideeh was an Aire Eclita (an avenging chief) at this time, avenging the wrongs of his tribe in the territories of Luigline (Leyney) ; and he went into the house of a woman there, and forcibly drank milk there. " It would be fitter for you", said the wo- man, " to avenge your brother's daughter on Cellach, the son of Cormac, than to consume my food forcibly". And books do not record that he committed any evil upon the woman's person ; but he went forward to Teamair; and it was after sunset he reached Teamair; and it was prohibited at Tecnnair to take a champion's arms into it after sunset ; but only the arms that happened to be in it ; and Aengus took Cormac's Crimall (bloody spear) down off its rack (as he was passing in) and gave a thrust of it into Ceallach, son of Cormac, which killed him ; and its angle struck Cormac's eye, so that he remamed hah'blmd ; and its heel struck in the back of the steward of Teamair, when drawing it out of Cellach, and killed him ; and it was prohibited to a kmg with a blemish to be in Teamair; and Cormac was sent out to be cured to Aicill, near Teamair; and Teamar could be seen from Aicill, and Aicill could not be seen from Teamar ; and the sovereignty of Erinn was (then) given to Cairbre Lifea- chair, the son of Cormac ; and it was then this book was com- piled ; and that which is Cormac's share in it is every place where "jB^ai" (immunity) occurs, and ^^Ameic arafeiser'^ (my son would you know) ; and Ceimdfaelad's share is, everything from that out".
Such is the account of this curious tract, as found prefixed to all the copies of it that we now know ; and, though the compo- sition of this preface must be of a much later date than Cor- mac's time, still it bears internal evidence of great antiquity.
Cormac's book is, as I have observed, always found prefixed to the laws compiled by Cennfaelad just mentioned. Tliis Cennfaelad had been an Ulster warrior, but, happening to re- ceive a fracture of the skull, at the battle of Magh Rath, fought A.D. 634, he was carried to be cured, to the house of Bricin'^^^^ of
(2'') The reader will please to observe, once for all, that the letter c is in the Gaedhlic always ijronounced hard, or like the English k; it never has the soft sound of au s, even before an e or an i.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 49
Tuaim Drecain, wliere tliere were tliree schools, iiamelj- : a Lite- lect. ii. rary (or Classical) school; a Fenechas, or Law school; and a school of Poetry. And, whilst there, and listening to the instruc- of Acaui. tions given to the pupils, and the subtle discussions of the schools, his memory, which, before, was not very good, became clear and retentive, so that whatever he heard in the day (it is re- corded) he remembered at night ; and thus, he finally came to be a master in the arts of the three schools, reducing what he had heard in each to order, and committing it to verse, which he first wrote upon slates and tablets, and afterwards in a White Book, in verse. The Fenechas, or law part only, of this book, is that now found annexed to Cormac's treatise. These laws, however, are not in verse noAv. And, whether the laws at present known, in connection with Cennfaeladlis name, are of his own composition, or those he learned in the schools here mentioned, is not certain. The explanation of the word Aicill, as well as the circumstances just mentioned respecting Cennfaeladli, occurs in the following passage, in continuation of that last quoted. — [See original in Appendix, JSTo. XXVIIL]
^''Aicill [is derived] from Uch Oil [the Great Lamenta- tion], which A (cell, the daughter of Cairbre [_Cairhre Niafear, monarch of Erinn], made there, lamenting Ere, the son of Cairbre, her brother ; and here is a proof of it : —
" The daughter of Cairbre, that died,^^®' And of Feidelm, the ever-blooming. Of grief for Ere, beautiful her part. Who was slain in revenge of Cuchulainn".
" Or, it was Aicell, the wife of Ere, son of Cairbre, that died of grief for her husband there, when he was killed by Conall Cear- nach (in revenge of Cucludainn) ; and this is a proof of it : —
" Conall Cearnach, that brought Erc's head To the side of Temair, at the third hour ; Sad the deed that of it came. The breaking of AcailFs noble heart".
*' If there was established law at the time the eric (reparation) which was paid for this crime (against Cormac, etc.) — provided it was on free wages'^-^^ Magh Bregh (Bregia) was held — was the
(28) These t\vo verses are taken from the ancient Dinnsexchus, but there is no authority for the second version to be found in tlie copy of tliat tract, pre- served in the Book of Ball^Tnote. The poem from wliicli tliey are taken, and which gives the origin of the place called Acaill, was written by Cinaeth or Kenneth O'Hartigan, who died a.d. 973, and, consequently, this account, in its present state, of the Book of Acaill, was written after the writing of the poem.
(29) Pfgg wages. — That is, if they had only held their lands and original stock,
4
50
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
Of the Book of Acaill.
same as if free wages had been given to half of them, and base wages to the other half, so that one half of them would be in free service, and the other half in base service.
"If free wages were not on them at all, the eric which should be paid there was the same as if free wages had been given to the half of them and base wages to the other half, so that half of them would be in free service, and the other half in base service.
" If there was not established law there, every one's right would be according to his strength. ^^°^
" And they (Aengus's tribe) left the tenitory, and they went to the south. They are the Deise (Decies or Deasys) of Poi't Laegliaire or Port Lairge (Waterford) from that time down. " Its (the book's) locus and time, as regards Cormac, so far. "In regard to Cennfaelad, however, the locus of [his part of] it was Doire Lurain, and the time of it was the time of [the Monarch] Aeclh Mac Ainmerech, and its person [i.e. author] was Cennfaelad, and the cause of compiling it, his brain of for- getfulncss having been extracted from Cennfaelad's head after having been cloven in the battle of Magh Rath'^^'-' [a.d. 634].
" The three victories of that battle were : the defeat of Congal Claen, in his falsehood, by Domnall, in his truthfulness ; and Suihhnk, the maniac, to become a maniac ; and it is not Siiihh- nes becoming a maniac that is (considered) a victory, but all the stories and all the poems which he left after him in Erinn ; and it was not a victory that his brain of forgetfuhiess was ex- tracted from Cennfaelad's head, but what he left of noble book works after him in Erinn. He had been carried to be ciu'ed to the house of [St.] Bricin, of Tuaim D7'ecain, and there were three schools in the toAvn, a school of classics, and a school of
which -was the wages, or rath, on the condition of certain personal services, and the payment of a certain rent every third year, — which was called saer-rath, or free wages, — they should be now reduced, one half the tribe, to base wages, which amounted to a species of slavery, under which they were forced to pay every year what the parties on free wages paid but every third year. And even though according to the second clause the lands were not held by them on wages at all, but as independent inheritors (that is, owners owing only an acknow- ledgment to the king, with such contributions only as they pleased), which they were, being the descendants of Fiacha Sidd/ie, the brother of Conn of the Hundred Battles, and consequently cousins to Cormac himself. — even then they were reduced to the state of one half of them becoming free vassals, and the other half base vassals, their hereditary title to their lands having become for ever forfeited.
(30) There is a most curious and important account of the trial and decision in this ancient case, preserved in the ancient Irish Manuscript lately purchased in London for the Eoyal Irish Academy, through the liberahty and fine na- tional spirit of the Rev. Dr. Todd, of T.C.D.
(31) See The Battle of Mayh Rath, edited by John O'Donovan, LL.D., for the Irish Archaeological Society ; 1842.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 51
Fenechas (laws), and a school of Filidhecht (pKilosophy,