Lebor gabála Érenn ‘The book of the taking of Ireland’
- Early Modern Irish, Middle Irish
- prose, prosimetrum
- Cycles of the Kings, Irish legendary history, Mythological Cycle
The various manuscript witnesses of the Lebor gabála are typically subdivided into a number of classes according to the recension or redaction to which these copies are thought to belong (such as A, B, M and C below). This does not mean that the manuscript texts of each recension present a uniform, homogeneous picture. In fact, these often exhibit innovations (interpolation, cross-contamination, rearrangement, etc.) that come with the scribe or that have been adopted from the exemplar. Nevertheless, there are also classes of closely related manuscript copies that form what might be called ‘subrecensions’.(1)n. 1 See R. Mark Scowcroft, ‘Leabhar Gabhála. Part I: the growth of the text’, Ériu 38 (1987) and R. Mark Scowcroft, ‘Mediaeval recensions of the Lebor Gabála’ in Lebor gabála Érenn... (2009).
Lists of manuscripts and other details specific to each recension will be treated separately. See the following pages:
The four main medieval recensions or redactions :
- Recension A = R1 (Macalister) = a (Scowcroft) = A (Thurneysen, Van Hamel)
- Recension B = R2 (Macalister) = b (Scowcroft) = BI (Thurneysen) = Ba (Van Hamel)
- Míniugud recension = Min (Macalister) = m (Scowcroft) = BIII (Thurneysen) = Bb (Van Hamel)
- Recension C = R3 (Macalister) = c (Scowcroft) = C (Thurneysen, Van Hamel)
Modern recension :
- Ó Cléirigh recension, i.e. the modernised version by Micheál Ó Cléirigh (1631) = K or R4 (Macalister) = D (Thurneysen, Van Hamel)
- Revision of the Ó Cléirigh recension (forthcoming)
- Revision of the Ó Cléirigh recension (forthcoming)
Other :
- Lebor gabála Érenn (annalistic version) (forthcoming)
- Early Modern Irish Middle Irish
- Middle and Early Modern Irish.
List of names for plains that are said to exist beneath the lakes of Ireland.
Short poem (3 qq) on the dinnshenchas of Druim Fíngin.
Dinnshenchas of Emain MachaDinnshenchas of Emain MachaProse story relating the dinnshenchas for Emain Macha.Ériu co n-uaill, co n-idnaibÉriu co n-uaill, co n-idnaibPoem in Lebor gabála Érenn.
The four jewels of the Tuatha Dé DanannThe four jewels of the Tuatha Dé DanannShort text about the original homes of the Tuatha Dé Danann, their instruction in magical arts, and four magical instruments that they are said to have introduced into Ireland.Gnímhradha in sheseadh lái láinGnímhradha in sheseadh lái láinDinnshenchas of Laigin IIDinnshenchas of Laigin IIDinnshenchas of the LaiginLebor gabála Érenn, Ó Cléirigh recensionLebor gabála Érenn, Ó Cléirigh recensionA modern version of Lebor gabála Érenn, revised by Micheál Ó Cléirigh and his associates in 1631.Lebor gabála Érenn, second redactionLebor gabála Érenn, second redactionThe so-called second recension of Lebor gabála Érenn.Lebor gabála Érenn 1. The origins and wanderings of the GoídilLebor gabála Érenn 1. The origins and wanderings of the GoídilFirst tract of Lebor gabála Érenn.
Lebor gabála Érenn 2. De gabálaib ÉrennLebor gabála Érenn 2. De gabálaib ÉrennSecond tract of Lebor gabála ÉrennLebor gabála Érenn 3. De fhlaithiusaib ÉrennLebor gabála Érenn 3. De fhlaithiusaib ÉrennThird tract of Lebor gabála Érenn.
Lebor gabála Érenn 4. Comaimsera ríg in domuin ocus gabal nÉrenn / fri rígaib ÉrennLebor gabála Érenn 4. Comaimsera ríg in domuin ocus gabal nÉrenn / fri rígaib ÉrennFourth tract of Lebor gabála Érenn. It contains synchronisms (comaimsera) that place Irish national history, from the legendary Partholón to the historical king Fergal mac Maíle Dúin, in the Eusebian chronological scheme of world history.Lebor gabála Érenn 5. Christian kings of IrelandLebor gabála Érenn 5. Christian kings of IrelandTuán mac Cairill ro closTuán mac Cairill ro closTúatha Dé Danann fo diamairTúatha Dé Danann fo diamair
Following the example of R. Mark Scowcroft, ‘Leabhar Gabhála. Part I: the growth of the text’, Ériu 38 (1987), the compilation may be divided into five distinct tracts:
[1] The origins and wanderings of the Goídil » entry
A. Introductory matter » entry
[2] De gabálaib Érenn » entry
[3] De fhlaithiusaib Érenn » entry
[4] Comaimsera ríg in domuin ocus gabal nÉrenn / fri rígaib Érenn » entry
[5] Christian kings of Ireland » entry
Sources
Notes
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.
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.”
Secondary sources (select)
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The earliest references to the invasions tradition are in the Cambro-Latin compilation Historia Brittonum, and the poem Can a mbunadas na nGaedel by Máel Muru Othna, both dated to the 9th century.