This lecture, entitled ‘Armagh Robinson MS A \u2013 the oldest manuscript of Conall Mag Eochag\u00e1in\u2019s English translation of Irish Annals’, considers the following:<\/p>\n
1. What are Irish Annals?<\/p>\n
They are brief written descriptions of important events recorded year by year in Ireland from the fifth to the seventeenth century.<\/p>\n
2. Who was Conall Mag Eochag\u00e1in?<\/p>\n
Conall was a well-educated antiquarian from Lismoyny, County Westmeath, who lived to c.1640, and who was in contact with some of the most noted Irish men of learning of his era, e.g. Br. M\u00edch\u00e9al \u00d3 Cl\u00e9irigh, Br. Seoirse D\u00edolmhain and Bishop James Ussher.<\/p>\n
3. Why did Conall make this English translation?<\/p>\n
For the use of his brother-in-law, Toirdhealbhach Mac Cochl\u00e1in, alias Terence MacCoghlan, who was evidently not literate in Irish.<\/p>\n
4. Who wrote MS A?<\/p>\n
MS A\u2019s handwriting corresponds with that of MS BL Add. 4807, which was written in 1681 by Domhnall \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in of Tralee, who also copied the English translation made in 1635 of S\u00e9athr\u00fan C\u00e9itinn\u2019s Foras Feasa ar \u00c9irinn.<\/p>\n
5. When did \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in write MS A?<\/p>\n
Marginal notes at ff. 18v and 63v indicate that he was writing on 18 April 1660, and then on 15 May 1660.<\/p>\n
6. Who has used MS A?<\/p>\n
In the 16th century James Ware requested a copy of it; in the 17th century Ruaidhr\u00ed \u00d3 Flaithbheartaigh, alias Roderick O Flaherty, annotated MS A extensively, as did three others, and Tadhg \u00d3 D\u00e1laigh used it in 1685 as his exemplar for MS TCD 673; in the 18th century, circa 1740, two of the scribes of MS NLI 767 used it as their exemplar; in the 20th century Nollaig \u00d3 Mura\u00edle has used it as the primary authority for his edition of Conall\u2019s translation.<\/p>\n
7. In summary:<\/p>\n
MS A has been repeatedly read and transcribed by Irish scholars for well over three hundred years.<\/p>\n
This lecture was organised by Armagh Robinson Library to mark the Library’s 250th anniversary and also to link with the annual Irish Language Festival (Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia) which takes place at the start of March. The Library is grateful to the Department for Communities for funding provided towards the lecture.<\/p>\n
Dr Daniel McCarthy is an Emeritus Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. His publications include The Irish Annals: Their genesis, evolution and history (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008) and \u2018The Genesis and Evolution of the Irish Annals to AD 1000\u2019, Fr\u00fchmittelalterliche Studien, 52, 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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