Manuscripts

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 N 10 Book of Ballycummin

  • s. xvi composite manuscript
  • Irish manuscripts
  • vellum + paper
Identifiers
Shelfmark
23 N 10
Classification
Cat. no. 967
Title
Book of Ballycummin
The manuscript has not been known by any title, at least in modern scholarship, until the conference organised at the Royal Irish Academy in 7-8 March, 2019, when it was given its new title, the Book of Ballycummin.
Provenance and related aspects
Date
s. xvi
16th century
Hands, scribes
Ó Maoil Chonaire family
Ó Maoil Chonaire family
Important learned family of poets, historians and scribes based in Connacht.

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Scribes working for or belonging to the Ó Maoil Chonaire (Ó Maolconaire). The catalogue description distinguishes between three principal scribes, each of whom writes at least one colophon with his name: Aodh, Dubthach and Torna(e).
Hands indexed:
Aodh Aodh “wrote for his own amusement at Baile in Chuimine [Ballycummin] in the house of Seán Ó Maolchonaire (pp. 1, 48 i., 77 i.), circa 1575. This scribe was the owner of the book, as he is referred to by the other scribes” (RIA cat. descr.). Aodh [scribe of RIA MS 23 N 10]Aodh ... scribe of RIA MS 23 N 10
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Dubthach “signs his name on p. 101 m., stating that he is finishing his part of the scribal work at Baile Tibhaird ar Bla Maige in the company of Sean Ó Maoilchonaire on the first Monday after the Feast of Saint John 1575 (p. 101 m.). Aedh, who resumes the transcription at this point, adds to Dubthach’s colophon a word of thanks” (RIA cat. descr.). Dubthach [scribe of RIA MS 23 N 10]Dubthach ... scribe of RIA MS 23 N 10
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Tornae Signs his name at the end of the last line on p. 57: Messe Tornae ⁊ ni fetur ca fad o do-scriuhus oen-lini roime sin. Tornae [scribe of RIA MS 23 N 10]Tornae ... scribe of RIA MS 23 N 10
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Anonymous A later section of the manuscript, pp. 131-142, containing a homily, maxims and verse, is without date and signature. Anonymous [scribe of RIA MS 23 N 10 (pp. 131-142)]Anonymous ... scribe of RIA MS 23 N 10 (pp. 131-142)
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.
composite manuscript
Material
vellum + paper
Table of contents
Legend
Texts

Links to texts use a standardised title for the catalogue and so may or may not reflect what is in the manuscript itself, hence the square brackets. Their appearance comes in three basic varieties, which are signalled through colour coding and the use of icons, , and :

  1. - If a catalogue entry is both available and accessible, a direct link will be made. Such links are blue-ish green and marked by a bookmark icon.
  2. - When a catalogue entry does not exist yet, a desert brown link with a different icon will take you to a page on which relevant information is aggregated, such as relevant publications and other manuscript witnesses if available.
  3. - When a text has been ‘captured’, that is, a catalogue entry exists but is still awaiting publication, the same behaviour applies and a crossed eye icon is added.

The above method of differentiating between links has not been applied yet to texts or citations from texts which are included in the context of other texts, commonly verses.

Locus

While it is not a reality yet, CODECS seeks consistency in formatting references to locations of texts and other items of interest in manuscripts. Our preferences may be best explained with some examples:

  • f. 23ra.34: meaning folio 23 recto, first column, line 34
  • f. 96vb.m: meaning folio 96, verso, second column, middle of the page (s = top, m = middle, i = bottom)
    • Note that marg. = marginalia, while m = middle.
  • p. 67b.23: meaning page 67, second column, line 23
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.] “Royal Irish Academy”, 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/ria.html>.
[facs. ed.] Best, R. I. [introduction], MS. 23 N 10 (formerly Betham 145) in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, Facsimiles in Collotype of Irish Manuscripts, 6, Dublin: Stationery Office, 1954.

Secondary sources (select)

Mulchrone, Kathleen, Thomas F. OʼRahilly, Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, and A. I. Pearson, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy, 8 vols, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1926–1970.  
8 volumes: Vol. 1, pp. 1–654 (fasc. 1-5) -- Vol. 2, pp. 655–1294 (fasc. 6-10) -- Vol. 3, pp. 1295–1938 (fasc. 11-15) -- Vol. 4, pp. 1939–2578 (fasc. 16-20) -- Vol. 5, pp. 2579–3220 (fasc. 21-25) -- Vol. 6, pp. 3221–3500 (fasc. 26-27) -- Vol. 7 (index 1) -- Vol. 8 (index 2).
Vol. 5, 2769–2780 [id. 967.]
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
October 2010, last updated: August 2023