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Today’s feast-day (1 July)

Oliver Plunkett

Archbishop of Armagh. He was ordained in 1669, after spending considerable time as a student and cleric in Rome (1647–1669). He fell victim to the crisis over an alleged ‘popish plot’. Having been found guilty of high treason against the Crown, he was violently executed at Tyburn on 11 July 1681. In the 20th century, he was both beautified (1920) and canonised (1975).

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St John from the St Gall gospel (St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 51). Source: Flickr.com.

A module for identifying agents - encompassing persons, peoples and organisations - and managing information about them has been around for many years, continually evolving as time went by, but what was absent all this time is a public interface for accessing relevant data in a user-friendly way.

This is a first attempt at offering such an interface, which is provided "as-is" and should be considered beta-quality for now (not that there is any official product release cycle as such but using the label is a convenient means to sound the right alarm bells). It currently consists of a basic search, aggregated data overviews for individual agents, and hover-card labels that you will meet elsewhere in the catalogue.

I am aware of duplicates, uneven coverage and other shortcomings that typically arise from the progressive nature of this website or simply, lack of personpower. An earlier version of the interface was available to editors partly because it helps us address some of those issues. None of these objections, however, seemed to weigh heavily against the alternative, which is having nothing at all to offer.

Note that for convenience's sake, many agents are not formally indexed but are nonetheless included by exclusive virtue of being linked. It is a wonderful forte of the system that allows us to retrieve and bring together disparate data from disparate data sources, but some useful metadata will be missing and discoverability is more limited as a result. For instance, we may be linking to a scribe whose name and associated data can be retrieved and presented, but without, say, a floruit it will be difficult to find this person within the appropriate time range. I say "difficult" because it is possible, to an extent, to rely on the dates we have, if any, for associated objects (manuscripts, scribal hands), but such a circuitous approach comes with limitations of its own and is not necessarily methodologically sound.

Meanwhile, I hope that the new interface will improve your experience in using this website. Next up are thematic categories for scribes (in the broadest, non-pejorative sense of the word), authors and scholars.

Last added

People

• Thomas Roberts
  1884–1960
  Welsh scholar.
• Dafydd ab Edmwnd
  fl. 1450–1490
  Welsh poet.
• Robert Ellis [Cynddelw]
  1812–1875
• Iorwerth Fynglwyd
  fl. c.1480–1527
  Welsh poet.
• Brendan O Hehir
  1927–1991
• David Johns [cleric and poet]
  fl. 1569–1586
  Welsh cleric, vicar (or parson?) of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd (Denbighshire), and poet.
• Collen
  supp. fl. c.600?
  British saint associated with Llangollen (Denbighshire, Wales) and possibly with Langolen (Finistère, Brittany) and Colan (Cornwall).
• Hugh Myles [of Evenjobb]
  fl. 16th century
  Son of historian John Myles of Harpton / Tre’rdelyn (Radnorshire) and one-time owner of the Book of Taliesin.
• John Lewis [of Llynwene]
  d. 1615/1616
  Welsh barrister and historian. He was author of a History of Great-Britain, which did not appear in print until 1729.
• Caitlin Green
• Louis Le Pelletier
  1663–1733
• Asporius
  fl. c.600?
  Asporius, known also as Asperius or Asper Minor (distinguishing him from Aemilius Asper), is the author to whom a grammar based on Donatus’ Ars minor is attributed. The possibility has been considered that he was an Irish or otherwise Insular grammarian and according to Vivien Law, he was probably active in Ireland or Burgundy.
• Butler [Irish healer]
  fl. 17th century, first half
  An Irish healer known simply as Butler, who is known from an account by Flemish chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont and from the correspondence of Henry Oldenburg.
• Philemon Holland
  1552–1637
  English physician and teacher, who undertook a number of translations into England, including that of William Camden’s Britannia.
• Edmund Gibson
  1669–1748
  British clergyman and antiquary, who became bishop of Lincoln (in 1716) and London (in 1723). He produced an English translation of William Camden’s Britannia (1695) which included much additional material, with help from other scholars, such as Edward Lhuyd.

Institutions

• Nanhyfer [Nevern, Pembrokeshire]

  Church on the river Nevern (Nyfer) in Pembrokeshire, said to have been an early church (clas) founded by St Brynach.

• Alt Fharannáin
• Lann Rónáin Fhinn
• Lusca [Lusk, Co. Dublin]
• Cenn Éitig [Co. Roscommon]
  Not to be confused with St Fínán’s foundation of the same name.
  
• Cenn Éitig
  Foundation associated with St Fínán (Cam), which gave its name to the present townland and parish of Kinnitty in Co. Offaly.
  
• Bangor, University Library
• Carmarthen Priory
• Luxeuil abbey
  Monastery founded by the Irish missionary Columbanus.
  
• St Asaph cathedral
• New York, Public Library
• Mallersdorf abbey
  Benedictine monastery founded in 1107 as a daughter-house of Niedermünster in Regensburg.
  
• London, Sion College
• Regensburg, abbey of St Emmeram
• Regensburg, abbey of St James

Randomised results

Scribes

Ádam Ó Cianáin

fl. 14th century

Ádam Ó Cianáin of Lisgoole, Co. Fermanagh, Irish scribe. His obit is recorded in AFM s.a. 1374.

Dermod O'Connor

?–1732

Muiris mac Torna Ó Maoil Chonaire

d. 1645

Irish scholar, poet and scribe of the Ó Maoil Chonaire family. He is known to have made a small contribution to the Annals of the Four Masters.

Toirdhealbhach Ó Mealláin

fl.1641–1647

Franciscan friar of Brantry (Co. Tyrone), who has been identified as the author of a journal describing the first years (1641-1647) of the Irish Confederate Wars.

Hywel Fychan ap Hywel Goch

fl. 14th century

Hywel Fychan ap Hywel Goch was a fourteenth century Welsh scribe. He was a man with clerical training who knew Latin and was able to edit and organize a book. He also wrote lawbooks.  Hywel Fychan is most famous for being the chief scribe of the Red Book of Hergest (Oxford, Jesus College, MS 111). He is also connected to Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 11; Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Llanstephan MS 27 (Llyfr Coch Talgarth); and Philadelphia, Library Company, MS 8680.O. He furthermore made a contribution to the Culchwch ac Olwen-text of the White Book of Rhydderch (Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Peniarth 4-5) on folio 83v.

Pilib Ballach Ó Duibhgeannáin

fl. second half of the 16th century

Irish historian and scribe, known for producing NLI MS G 1.

Pól Ó Longáin

1801–1866

scribe who was based in Co. Cork and belonged to the Ó Longáin family of scribes; son of Mícheál Óg and brother of Peadar Ó Longáin.

Anchorite of Llandewi Brefi

fl. mid–14th century

Anonymous scribe usually known as the ‘anchorite of Llandewi Brefi’.

Anonymous [i¹]

s. ix

Anonymous scribe/annotator whose Irish hand is detected in a number of continental manuscripts of Eriugena’s works. Since a study by E. K. Rand, the hand is usually designatedl i¹, distinguishing it from that of a fellow scribe, which is designated i². T. A. M. Bishop, Edouard Jeauneau and Bernhard Bischoff identified it as the hand of Eriugena himself, but others have argued that he was probably one of his assistants.

Symeon of Durham

fl. c. 1090–c. 1128

Patrick Lynch [d. 1838]

c.1756–1838

Irish scholar born in Co. Down as the son of a schoolteacher (Terence Lynch); taught Irish at Belfast Academy and published in the Irish-language magazine Bolg an tSoláir. Some of his contributions to scholarship on the Irish language went uncredited.

Ó Luinín family

learned family of legal historians

John Jones [of Gellilyfdy]

1570s–1658?

Welsh calligrapher and transcriber of Welsh manuscripts

William M. Hennessy

d. 1889

Colmán Banbán

d. 720

scriba at Kildare

Authors

A random selecton of authors and those so described.

Anonymous [LU scribe H]

s. xii

Anonymous scribe, usually known simply as H or the Interpolator, who significantly annotated, revised and interpolated parts of the Lebor na hUidre (RIA MS 23 E 25) and sometimes intercalated leaves to add material. The modern name H stands for ‘Homilist’, which stems from the fact that he added two homilies, Scéla laí brátha and Scéla na hEsérgi. His identity, background and precise floruit remain uncertain.

Laidcenn mac Baíth Bannaig

d. 661

Irish scholar, abbot of Clonfertmulloe (Kyle, Co. Laois); author of Ecloga de moralibus in Iob and possibly, Lorica Gildae.

Froinsias Bhailís

1654–1724

OFM, Irish lexicographer and scholar

Laidcenn mac Bairceda

supp. fl. 5th century ?

early Irish poet, said to be of the Dál nAraidi. Two early poems (beg. ''Énna, Labraid'' and ''Nidu dír dermait'') belonging to the so-called rhyming ‘Leinster poems’ are ascribed to him.

Cú Choigcríche mac Diarmada mheic Taidhg Chaim Ó Cléirigh

s. xvi^med

Irish poet and possibly historian, a son of Diarmaid son of Tadhg Cam Ó Cléirigh (not to be confused with his better known namesake, the annalist Cú Choigcríche (son of Diarmaid) Ó Cléirigh). Five of his poems are preserved in NLI MS G 167 and another in a Copenhagen MS.

George Owen [of Henllys]

c.1552–c.1613

Welsh clergyman in the Church of England, antiquarian, genealogist and cartographer.

Muiredach of Auxerre and Metz

fl. 9th century

also known from Latin sources as Murethach or Muridac; Irish grammarian and author of a commentary on Donatus’s Ars maior.

Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín

Huw Machno

fl. 1585–1637

Welsh poet.

Saint Patrick

fl. 5th century

Ieuan ap Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd

fl. 1430–1470

Welsh poet, son of Rhydderch ap Ieuan Llwyd

Flannacán mac Cellaig

d. 896

king of Brega; poet;

Rhisierdyn

fl. 14th c.

Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill

fl. c.1743–c.1800

Irish poet of the Uí Chonaill of Derrynane, wife of Art Ó Laoghaire, a military captain who was killed after quarrelling with the high sheriff of Cork and for whom she composed the long elegiac poem Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire.

Julius Caesar

died 44 BC

Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman statesman, general and consul