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Amra Choluim Chille ‘Poem for Colum Cille’
verse beg. Dia Dia dorrogus ré tias inna gnuis

  • Old Irish
  • verse
  • Early Irish poetry

Elegy on Saint Columba (Colum Cille).

Title
Amra Choluim Chille
‘Poem for Colum Cille’
alternatively written as Amrae Choluimb Chille, etc.
First words (verse)
  • Dia Dia dorrogus ré tias inna gnuis
“God God, I should beseech Him before I go into His presence”
edition: ‘Dia Dia do<r>rogus ré tias in<n>a gnuis’
Author
Ascribed to: Dallán Forgaill
Dallán Forgaill
(fl. 597)
early Irish poet, known as the author of Amra Choluim Chille
See more
The 11th-century [[Commentary on the Amra Choluim Chille |prose preface]] ascribes the poem to Dallán Forgaill.
Manuscripts
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1441 (E 4. 2) = Irish Liber hymnorum [s. xiex–xiiin]
ff. 33–34vb (prose preface), 26ra–28v
Ff. 33v-34vb contain the prose preface, ff. 26ra-28v the poem with interlinear gloss.
Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B 502 2, ff. 19–89 = Lebar Glinne Dá Locha (?) [1125 x 1150]
ff. 54r–59v
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 E 25 (1229) = Lebor na hUidre [s. xi/xii]
ff. 5a–15a
Imperfect copy.
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1318 cols 573–958 = section of the Yellow Book of Lecan [s. xivex/xvin]
p. 71ff (facsimile) col. 680ff
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 16 (1230) = Leabhar Breac (‘Speckled Book’) [s. xvin]
ff. 238–248
Imperfect copy.
Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 615 = Saltair Choluim Chille [s. xvi1]
Fragments.
London, British Library, MS Egerton 1782 [1516-1518]
ff. 1r–14v
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1288 (H 1. 14) [c. 1750]
f. 54ff
Copy from Egerton 1782
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS C iii 2 (1236) [s. xvi]
Extensive gloss
Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 50 [s. xvii]
pp. 1–105
Related:
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1337 19, pp. 565–628 [s. xvi (?)]
pp. 610b–616b
A glossary to the Amra.
Language
  • Old Irish
  • Old Irish (the poem proper).
Date
The poem was traditionally dated sometime after Columba's death (d. 597), probably in the early 7th century. “The poem itself ... can hardly be later than the early seventh century” (Charles-Edwards).(1)n. 1 T. M. Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland (2000): 285. More recently, however, Jacopo Bisagni has undertaken a thorough linguistic analysis of the poem and on that basis, re-dated the work to the 9th century.
Form
verse (primary)
Textual relationships

Cf. Commentary on the Amra Choluim Chille, comprising the prose preface and interlinear gloss.

Related: Colum caid cumachtachColum caid cumachtachPrayer (5st in ochtfhoclach metre) for Colum Cille attributed to Cainnech.
Colum Cille co Dia domerailColum Cille co Dia domerailEarly Irish devotional poem addressed to Colum Cille and usually attributed to Adomnán.
Commentary on the Amra Choluim ChilleCommentary on the Amra Choluim ChilleMiddle Irish commentary in the form of scholia accompanying copies of the Amra Choluim Chille.Dia ard airletharDia ard airletharEarly Irish poem attributed to Colum Cille.Ní disceoil duib Néill andesNí disceoil duib Néill andes

Early Irish poem (7 qq) in praise of Colum Chille, with ample quotations from the Amra Choluim Chille.

O’Clery’s glossary (Foclóir na Sanasán Nua)O’Clery’s glossary (Foclóir na Sanasán Nua)

An Irish glossary compiled by Mícheál Ó Cléirigh. who dedicated it to Baothghalach Mac Aodhagáin.

Ro thinnscanad in tAmraRo thinnscanad in tAmra

An Irish quatrain attributed to Máel Suthain, which is cited in the prose preface to the Amra Choluim Chille as supporting evidence for the composition of the Amra having been begun in Áth Féine Ollarba and completed in Tech Lomráin.

Classification

Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
...

Sources

Notes

1.
T. M. Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland (2000): 285.

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.

[crit. ed.] [tr.] Bisagni, Jacopo, Amrae Coluimb Chille: a critical edition, Early Irish Text Series, 1, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2019.  
abstract:

Amrae Coluimb Chille is a complex and fascinating Old Irish text. A unique tour de force of linguistic inventiveness, the Amrae laments the death of Colum Cille and praises equally his monastic perfection and his intellectual achievements, his asceticism and his pastoral leadership, his rejection of the secular world and his descent from a noble lineage.

This book provides the first ever complete critical edition of Amrae Coluimb Chille. The introduction offers a full study of the text’s manuscript transmission, language and style, as well as a discussion of its historical context. The Old Irish text is accompanied by a new English translation and is followed by a detailed commentary, a glossary and several appendices.

[ed.] [tr.] Henry, P. L. [ed. and tr.], Brian Ferran [ill.], and Aonghas MacNeacail [coll.], Amra Choluim Chille: Dallán’s elegy for Columba, Belfast: Colmcille, Ultach Trust, 2006.  
Edition and English translation of the poem, together with an introduction by Ciaran Carson, images of paintings by Brian Ferran, calligraphy by Donald Murray, a Scottish Gaelic version by Aonghas Dubh MacNeacail and an afterword by Aodán Mac Póilin.
[ed.] [tr.] Clancy, Thomas Owen, and Gilbert Márkus, Iona: the earliest poetry of a Celtic monastery, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995.
96–128 Text and translation of the Old Irish poem, based on Stokes’ edition. It omits the later commentary.
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “The Bodleian Amra Choluimb Chille”, Revue Celtique 20 (1899): 31–55, 132–183, 248–289, 400–437. Corrigenda in Revue Celtique 21 (1900): 133–136.
Internet Archive: <link>, <link>
Edition and translation of the text from Rawlinson B 502, including commentary. The Amra proper starts at p. 148.
[ed.] Bernard, J. H., and Robert Atkinson [eds.], The Irish Liber hymnorum, 2 vols, vol. 1: Text and introduction, Henry Bradshaw Society, 13, London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1898.  
comments: Volume 1: Text and introduction
Volume 2: Translation
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link> – originally from Google Books: <link>
162–183 Text and commentary from TCD 1441 (E 4. 2). The poem proper, with interlinear commentary, begins on p. 167.
[tr.] Bernard, J. H., and Robert Atkinson, The Irish Liber hymnorum, 2 vols, vol. 2: Translation and notes, Henry Bradshaw Society, 14, London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1898.  
comments: Volume 1: Text and introduction
Volume 2: Translation
Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books (missing: pp. 18-19, 86-87): <link>
53–80 Translation
[ed.] Best, Richard Irvine, and Osborn Bergin [eds.], Lebor na hUidre: Book of the Dun Cow, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1929.
CELT – edition (pp. 1-338): <link> Internet Archive: <link>
11–41 Diplomatic edition of the text in LU.
[ed.] Crowe, John O'Beirne [ed. and tr.], The Amra Choluim Chilli of Dallan Forgaill, vol. 1, Dublin: MacGlashan and Gill, 1871.  
comments: Volume 1 contains an edition and translation of the text. Volume 2, which was to include "notes, a grammatical analysis of the text and copious indexes" (as the title announces), was never published.
Internet Archive: <link>, <link>, <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>
Early edition from the text in LU and partly from the Leabhar Breac.

Secondary sources (select)

Herbert, Máire, Iona, Kells, and Derry: the history and hagiography of the monastic familia of Columba, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988.
9–12
Herbert, Máire, “The preface to the Amra Coluim Cille”, in: Donnchadh Ó Corráin, Liam Breatnach, and Kim R. McCone (eds), Sages, saints and storytellers: Celtic studies in honour of Professor James Carney, 2, Maynooth: An Sagart, 1989. 67–75.
Charles-Edwards, T. M., Early Christian Ireland, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
285–290
Henry, P. L., Saoithiúlacht na Sean-Ghaeilge: bunú an traidisiúin, Dublin: Stationery Office, 1978. xvi + 243 pp + plates.
191–212
Hull, Vernam, “Amra Choluim Chille”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 28 (1960–1961): 242–251.
Kenney, James F., “Chapter V: The monastic churches: II. The churches of the sixth to ninth centuries; general treatises”, in: James F. Kenney, The sources for the early history of Ireland: an introduction and guide. Volume 1: ecclesiastical, Revised ed., 11, New York: Octagon, 1966. 372–485.
426–427 (§ 212) [id. 212.]
Strachan, John, “The date of the Amra Choluimb Chille”, Revue Celtique 17 (1896): 41–44.
Gallica: <link>
Bernard, J. H., and Robert Atkinson, The Irish Liber hymnorum, 2 vols, vol. 2: Translation and notes, Henry Bradshaw Society, 14, London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1898.  
comments: Volume 1: Text and introduction
Volume 2: Translation
Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books (missing: pp. 18-19, 86-87): <link>
223–235
web page identifiers
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen, Patrick Brown
Page created
February 2011, last updated: January 2024
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