Ó Maolmhuaidh (Froinsias)
- c.1606–1677?
- authors
Focused primarily on the nine copies of Francis O’Molloy’s Lucerna Fidelium (Rome, 1676) that were transferred from the Franciscan House of Studies to UCD in 2017, the discussion shows how they reflect the two phases in the distribution of the book, initially from Rome in the first thirty years after publication, and then in a second phase following the purchase of the unsold stock by Hodges & Smith in 1845. A copy now in Collegio S. Isidoro in Rome provides evidence for contemporary despatch to religious houses in Ireland, while the later distribution supplied many modern Franciscan houses in Ireland. In changed times these institutions have closed or given up their libraries, and the books were centralized at the House of Studies until that too ceased to function. UCD Special Collections has become their place of safety, but Catholic books remain at risk in many small institutions.
