Texts

Forus focal ‘Knowledge of words’
verse beg. Forus focal lúaidhter libh

Early Modern Irish
verse
Irish glossaries, Glossary

A metrical Irish glossary (75 qq).

Title

Forus focal

‘Knowledge of words’

Not be confused with the glossary headed Foras focail in RIA MS C i 2 (see Stowe glossaries).

First words (verse)

Forus focal lúaidhter libh

Author

Ascribed to: Ó Dubhagáin (Seaán Mór)

Ó Dubhagáin (Seaán Mór)

(d. 1372)

Irish poet and historian.

Attributed to Seaán (Mór?) Ó Dubhagáin; Stokes: “there is not, so far as I know, any trustworthy evidence for such attribution.”

Manuscripts

For his final edition, Stokes drew on the first five manuscripts (sigla: LL, S, M, H and L). The copies in TCD MSS 1284 and 1331 were noted by Paul Russell, ‘The sounds of a silence: the growth of Cormac's Glossary’, Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 15 (1988).

LL =

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1339 pp. 377–410 = Supplement to the Book of Leinster [c. s. xvi]

p. 395

First ten quatrains only

S = Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, Stowe MS III

(Unidentified)

ff. 95r–97v

M =

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS D ii 1 (1225) = Leabhar Uí Mhaine (The Book of Uí Maine) [1394]

f. 116 a

H =

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1307 (H 2. 12, no. 6) [1698]

pp. 7–8

Stokes considers the transcription to be a poor one.

L =

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 L 21 (979) [s. xviii]

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1284 (H 1. 10) [1747]

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1331 (H 3. 12) [s. xviii]

pp. 145–162

Dublin, University College Library, Additional Irish MS 14 = Dubhaltach Mac Fir Bhisigh’s Leabhar na ngenealach [s. xvii]

Fragment. See Ó Muraíle below.

Cambridge, University Library, MS Additional 3083 (8) [1685/6]

pp. 174–180.m

73qq.

Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 433

to be confirmed

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 M 16 (308) [s. xviii]

pp. 39–55

to be confirmed

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 G 23 (256) [s. xviii/xix]

pp. 153–157

to be confirmed.

Language

Early Modern Irish
?

Form

verse (primary)

Length

Number of stanzas: 75

Textual relationships

This text and another metrical glossary (both in RIA 23 L 21 and TCD 1307) are listed among the sources used in the compilation of O’Clery’s glossary.

Related: Lecan glossaryLecan glossary

A glossary, or group of glossaries, that is probably best represented by a copy in the Book of Lecan. Unlike Sanas Cormaic or O'Davoren's glossary, which tend to comment on the terms under consideration, it usually provides single words to gloss difficult words. Notable exceptions include §§ 203-222.

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.

Classification

Irish glossariesIrish glossaries
...

GlossaryGlossary
...

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.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “On the metrical glossaries of the mediaeval Irish”, Beiträge zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen 29 (1893): 1–120.

Internet Archive: <link>

Edition, with introduction and glossary

[ed.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “On the metrical glossaries of the mediaeval Irish”, Transactions of the Philological Society 22 (1891–4, 1894): 1–103.

Internet Archive: <link>, <link>, <link>

Slightly earlier version of the article above, submitted at a time when Stokes was not yet aware of the copy in the Book of Uí Maine. The glossary is updated accordingly.

[ed.] Ó Muraíle, Nollaig, Leabhar mór na ngenealach: The great book of Irish genealogies, vol. 3: Kings, Vikings, Normans; ‘Index’; Topographical poems; Shorter books of genealogies, Dublin: De Búrca, 2003.

[‘Topographical poems’]

[ed.] OʼReilly, Edward, An Irish-English dictionary, rev. ed., Dublin: James Duffy, 1864.

Internet Archive: <link>, <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>, <link> Internet Archive: <link>, <link>

Contains the text of 23 qq. See Stokes for references.

[ed.] OʼDonovan, John, “Supplement to O'Reilly’s Irish-English dictionary”, in: Edward OʼReilly, An Irish-English dictionary, rev. ed., Dublin: James Duffy, 1864. 557–725.

Internet Archive: <link>

Contains the text of 7 qq. See Stokes for references.