Manuscript of Geoffrey Keating’s ‘History of Ireland’ written by the scribe Sémus Ó Gribín.
Scope and Contents
The scribe of the manuscript is Sémus Ó Gribín, who also wrote Royal Irish Academy 24 L 17, Geoffrey Keating’s ‘Eochair-Sgiath an Aifrinn’. He completed the manuscript in March 1696 for Patrick Logan, schoolmaster at Lurgan. Bound in (folios vi-vii) is a letter dated Lurgan, 17th August 1696, from Logan to an unnamed friend, consigning the manuscript to him for scholarly perusal and ultimate delivery to the Advocates Library. It thus became the first of the Advocates’ Gaelic manuscripts. Marginal notes in English (late 17th-century hand) occur at folio 156 verso.
The contents are as follows.
(i) “Díonbhrollach” (folio 1);
(ii) Book 1. (folio 109 verso, colophon, 21 January 1696);
(iii) Book 2 (folio 110 recto);
(iv) Genealogies (folio 183 recto (bottom of page) colophon, 14 March 1696).
Dates
- Creation: 1696.
Creator
- Keating, Geoffrey (Seathrún Céitinn), ca. 1580-ca. 1644 (Person)
- Ó Gribín, Sémus (Scribe, Person)
- Logan, Patrick (schoolmaster in Lurgan, Co. Armagh) (Donor, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Normal access conditions apply.
Conditions Governing Use
Normal reproduction conditions apply, subject to any copyright restrictions.
Extent
1 Volumes ; Folio.
Language of Materials
Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic
Arrangement
vii + 183 folios.
Custodial History
A manuscript copy of Geoffrey Keating’s ‘History of Ireland’ was described by Donald Mackintosh in 1806 as in the possession of John Wright, Advocate (died 1813); see John Sinclair, ‘The poems of Ossian in the original Gaelic with a literal translation into Latin’, 3 volumes (London 1807), volume 3, page 572. It is uncertain, however, whether this was the same manuscript.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Presented, 1925, by the Faculty of Advocates to the nation on the foundation of the National Library of Scotland.
Bibliography
Keating, Geoffrey. ‘History of Ireland’ (London, 1723). ‘Eochair-Sgiath an Aifrinn’ (Dublin, 1898), edited by Patrick O’Brien.
Mackechnie, John. ‘Catalogue of Gaelic manuscripts in selected libraries in Great Britain and Ireland’ (Boston, 1973), volume 1, page 2.
Sinclair, John, ‘Poems of Ossian in the original Gaelic’, 3 volumes (London, 1807).
Physical Description
Paper. Bound in leather, tooled blind.
- Title
- National Library of Scotland Catalogue of Manuscripts
- Author
- National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division
- Description rules
- International Standard for Archival Description - General
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division Repository
Archives and Manuscript Division
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EJ
0131 623 3700
manuscripts@nls.uk