Manuscripts

Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 1304 formerly Sir Con O'Neill's manuscript

  • Irish
  • s. xvii distinct manuscript
  • Irish manuscripts
  • paper

17th-century Irish manuscript miscellany containing Keating’s Trí biorghaoithe an bháis (incomplete), a variety of Irish poems and several genealogical tracts.

Identifiers
Shelfmark
G 1304
Title
formerly Sir Con O'Neill's manuscript
Type
Irish genealogies vernacular Irish verse
Provenance and related aspects
Language
Irish
Date
s. xvii
17th century
Origin, provenance
Origin: Ireland, northIreland, north
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Ulster
Ulster/Cúige Uladh
No short description available

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ass. with Mac Murchaidh (Giolla Pádraig)Mac Murchaidh (Giolla Pádraig)
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Later provenance: Ireland
Ireland
No short description available

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Names, apparently of previous owners, are recorded at various places in the MS: James Thompson Merchant (f. 56v.inf); Philip Mc Ardle (f. 67r.inf); Patt(?) Magee [one of the English forms of Magaodh], George Mc Cabe, Edmond Mc Ardle (f. 94ar); Philip Mc Ardle of Lackough in the paryshe of Cluntubrit and Countye of Monaghan (f. 94v.inf). Two calculations involving years, including the year of writing, are found on ff. 94v and another on f. 98r: (a) 1822 foll. by 1681, with a difference of 141 intervening years noted below, (b) 1744 foll. by 1681, and (c) 1720 foll. by 1669.
Later provenance: ass. with Reeves (William)
Reeves (William)
(1815–1892)
Irish antiquarian scholar; bishop of the Anglican see of Down, Connor and Dromore; keeper of the Armagh Public Library

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MacAdam (Robert)
Mac Ádhaimh (Roibeard)
(1808–1895)
Robert Shipboy MacAdam, Irish Presbyterian scholar and antiquarian from Belfast; co-founded Ulster Gaelic Society and the Belfast Museum; editor of the Ulster Journal Archaeology.

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During the second half of the 19th century, the MS entered the possession of bishop William Reeves, as is clear from both internal evidence and auction records drawn up after his death when his collection went on sale. Ó Cuív argues that Reeves is likely to have obtained it from Robert MacAdam, along with other MSS; at what date is unknown, but a note in RIA MS 24 P 26 shows that at least many of them were purchased in 1889. It seems that MacAdam had them bound in Belfast in the 1850s as some of them share the same style of binding and watermark date of 1852. Although it is known that he obtained MSS from the 1830 sale of Edward O’Reilly’s library, it is unknown if the present MS was among them.
Later provenance: ass. with O'Neill (Robert Torrens)O'Neill (Robert Torrens)
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Unlike most MSS that went on auction following Reeves’ death, the MS passed into private hands and ended up in the collection of Robert Torrens O'Neill (d. 1910) at Derrynoid Lodge in Draperstown (Co. Derry). On his death, the house and its library passed to his sister-in-law and on her death in c.1945, they passed to her son, the future Lord Rathcavan [Hugh O'Neill].
Later provenance: EnglandEngland
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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ass. with O'Neill (Con) [British diplomat]O'Neill (Con) ... British diplomat
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Hugh O’Neill sold the house in 1946, but gave the library to his son, the diplomat Con O’Neill (1912-1988), who in turn relocated the collection, including the MS, to London. Anders Ahlqvist brought the manuscript to Dublin, where Brian Ó Cuív was able to examine it and prepare a description (publ. in Éigse 13). When Con O’Neill had passed away, the MS was acquired by the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.
Hands, scribes
Hands indexed:
Hand

A single person, described by Ó Cuív as a “careful scribe with a good clear hand”, was responsible for the manuscript. A colophon occurs on f. 94v, at the end of Trí bior-ghaoithe an bháis, revealing the name of the scribe, that of his patron, and the date of writing (1681).

‘Ar na sgríobhadh do chum úsáide an Athar Ghiolla Padruig Mheic Murcadh, ⁊ gach aon léighfeas áon ní de tabhradh mile beandacht rém manmain ⁊ mar an céadna dhó úaimsi et me ar sgur dá sgríobhadh an .21. lá do mhí Februari an bhlíadhainsi daoís chriosd anno domini 1681. Meisi Conchubhar Mhágaodh.’

Another colophon with the name of the scribe occurs on f. 122v.

Conchubhar MhágaodhMhágaodh (Conchubhar)
(s. xvii)
Irish scribe.
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Patron
Mac Murchaidh (Giolla Pádraig)Mac Murchaidh (Giolla Pádraig)
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Codicological information
UnitCodicological unit. Indicates whether the entry describes a single leaf, a distinct or composite manuscript, etc.
distinct manuscript
Material
paper
The list below has been collated from the table of contents, if available on this page,Progress in this area is being made piecemeal. Full and partial tables of contents are available for a small number of manuscripts. and incoming annotations for individual texts (again, if available).Whenever catalogue entries about texts are annotated with information about particular manuscript witnesses, these manuscripts can be queried for the texts that are linked to them.

Sources

Primary sources This section typically includes references to diplomatic editions, facsimiles and photographic reproductions, notably digital image archives, of at least a major portion of the manuscript. For editions of individual texts, see their separate entries.

[dig. img.] “National Library of Ireland”, Anne-Marie OʼBrien, and Pádraig Ó Macháin, Irish Script on Screen (ISOS) – Meamrám Páipéar Ríomhaire, Online: School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1999–present. URL: <https://www.isos.dias.ie/collection/nli.html>.

Secondary sources (select)

Ó Cuív, Brian, “A seventeenth-century Irish manuscript”, Éigse 13 (1969–1970): 143–152.
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
April 2014, last updated: November 2022