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Urgarta ocus búada ríg Érenn ‘The prohibitions and prerogatives of the kings of Ireland’

  • Irish
  • prose, verse
  • Medieval Irish wisdom literature

A compilation of prose and verse enumerating the prohibitions (urgarta or gessa) and prerogatives or prescriptions (búada or áda) of the kings of Tara as well as the provincial kings, i.e. of Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster. The verse incorporated is attributed to Cúán ua Lothcháin (d. 1024).

Title
Urgarta ocus búada ríg Érenn
‘The prohibitions and prerogatives of the kings of Ireland’
This title is not attested as such, but may be used as a compromise based on the headings used for individual sections of the text. The title heading supplied in the Lecan and Lismore versions is Geasa ⁊ urgarta ríg Érenn/Teamra ⁊ ríg na cóiced. The English title used by Myles Dillon for his edition is The taboos of the kings of Ireland.
Manuscripts
London, British Library, MS Egerton 1782 [1516-1518]
p. 35a1
Long version in which the prose sections alternate with the relevant quatrains from the poem.
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 2 = Book of Lecan (Leabhar Leacain) [s. xvin]
p. 194a1

Version prefixed to Lebor na cert. The prose text is followed by the poem.

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 D 5 (156) [s. xviii]
A text close to that in the Book of Lecan.
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 M 18 (154) [s. xviii]
A text close to that in the Book of Lecan.
Cork, University College, Book of Lismore = Book of Lismore (Leabhar Leasa Móir) [s. xv]
p. 140(98)ra1–140vb
The prose text is followed by the poem.
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12 (536) = Book of Ballymote (Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta) [1384 x 1406]
p. 267a1 (facs.)
Prose only.
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 O 48a (476) = Liber Flavus Fergusiorum, part 1 [c. 1435-1440]
f. 10vb
Abbreviated version of 18 lines. Prose only.
Language
  • Irish
Form
prose, verse (primary)
Contains poems
‘A fir áin íadas in tech’
Associated items
A fhir iadas in techA fhir iadas in tech

Poem in which the speaker Húa Locháin (l. 2), i.e. Cúán úa Lothcháin, seeks access to Tara by professing to know the lucky and unlucky things of a king.

Classification

Medieval Irish wisdom literatureMedieval Irish wisdom literature
...

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.] Dillon, Myles [ed. and tr.], “The taboos of the kings of Ireland”, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 54 C (1951–1952): 1–36.  
comments: Paper read on 14 June, 1948
8–25; 26–36 (appendix) text and English translation of Eg. 1782 with some variants (pp. 8-25); diplomatic edition from the Book of Lecan and Book of Lismore (pp. 26-34), the Book of Ballymote (pp. 34-35), and from LFF (p. 36).
[ed.] [tr.] OʼDonovan, John [ed. and tr.], Leabhar na g-Ceart, or the Book of rights, Dublin: Celtic Society, 1847.
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
xlii–xlviii, 2–25, 271–273 (variant readings) edition and translation of the text as prefixed to Lebor na Cert in the Book of Lecan.
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
March 2014, last updated: May 2024
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