verse beg. A chóemu cláir Chuinn choímfhinn

  • Middle Irish
  • verse

Middle Irish poem (25 qq) attributed to Eochaid úa Flainn concerning the first settlements of Ireland by Cessair and Partholón. The poem as we have it was incorporated in the Lebor gabála Érenn and is common to all major recensions.

First words (verse)
  • A chóemu cláir Chuinn choímfhinn
Author
Ascribed to: Eochaid úa Flainn
Eochaid úa Flainn
(fl. c.936–1004, if he is Eochaid úa Flannucáin)
A medieval Irish poet to whom a number of Middle Irish poems, most of them in the Lebor gabála Érenn, have been attributed. His identification with Eochaid úa Flannucáin, a poet and historian who was guestmaster at Armagh, has gained favour over the years. In order not to pre-judge the matter, the two are distinguished in the present catalogue.

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The poem concludes with a signature quatrain in which the poet gives his name as úa Flainn (Mé in t-úa Flaind fodlas fíru).
Manuscripts
LGÉ, Recension A
L =
pp. 5b.1–6a.10
rubric: ‘Is dósin ro chan in suí senchasa in laídse sís’
beg. ‘A choemu clair Cuind cóemfind’
24 qq (does not include st. 24).
F =
p. 11a.17–12a.i
beg. ‘A caemain chlair Chu[i]nd caemfind’
25 qq.
LGÉ, Recension B
V =
f. 5ra.i–rb.m
beg. ‘A choemu Clair Chuind coemseng’
25 qq.
D =
ff. 8va.i–9ra.i
beg. ‘A chaomha Clair Cuind coemseing’
25 qq.
R =
f. 78ra20–22
beg. ‘A choema clair Cuinn caimfind’
First quatrain only.
LGÉ, Recension C
LGE, Ó Cléirigh recension Further, modernised copies are to be found in MSS of the Ó Cléirigh recension of LGÉ.
Language
  • Middle Irish
Form
verse (primary)
Length
Number of stanzas: 25

Classification

Subjects

CessairCessair
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Partholón
Partholón
Partholón mac Sera (son of Sera)

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Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] [tr.] Macalister, R. A. Stewart [ed.], Lebor gabála Érenn: The book of the taking of Ireland, 5 vols, vol. 3, Irish Texts Society, 39, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1937.
Internet Archive: <link>
42–53 (poem XXX); 22–23 (prose contexts of recensions B and C); 102–107 (notes)
Macalister, R. A. Stewart [ed.], Lebor gabála Érenn: The book of the taking of Ireland, 5 vols, vol. 2, Irish Texts Society, 35, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1933.  

Concerning this section in the recensions which he calls R1, Min, R2 and R3, Macalister writes that it “has suffered modification in translation from the original Latin and in subsequent transmission [...] and in consequence two versions R1 and R2, differing widely, have come into being. [...] The version [of this section] in Min need not detain us: it does not differ essentially from R1. We turn now to R3, which in this section is very clumsy and awkward patchwork, based upon the two earlier versions, with the addition of some extraneous matter. [...] The close relationship of his [the compiler's] MS of R1 (*Q), to F, observed in the preceding section is here maintained.”

Internet Archive: <link>
272–273 (prose context of recension A only)
[dipl. ed.] Best, Richard Irvine, Osborn Bergin, and M. A. OʼBrien, The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála, vol. 1, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1954. 260 pp. + 4 pl.
CELT – edition (pp. 1-260): <link>
16–19 (ll. 512–607) LL version.
[ed.] [tr.] Macalister, R. A. S., and John Mac Neill, Leabhar Gabhála: the book of conquests of Ireland. The recension of Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, vol. 1, Dublin, 1916.  
comments: Unfinished, as no further volumes have been forthcoming.
Internet Archive: <link>
56–71 Ó Cléirigh recension.

Secondary sources (select)

Ó Mainnín, Mícheál B., “Eochaid ua Flainn agus Eochaid ua Flannucáin: súil úr ar an bhfianaise”, Léann: Iris Chumann Léann na Litríochta 2 (2009): 75–105.
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
March 2022, last updated: September 2023