The Book of Leinster
| Book of Leinster | |
|---|---|
| Dublin, TCD, MS 1339 (olim MS H 2.18) | |
f. 53
|
|
| Also known as | Lebor Laignech (Modern Irish Leabhar Laighneach); Lebor na Nuachongbála |
| Type | miscellany |
| Date | 12th century, second half |
| Place of origin | Terryglass (Co. Tipperary) and possibly Oughaval or Clonenagh (Co. Laois) |
| Scribe(s) | Áed Ua Crimthainn |
| Size | c. 13" by 9"; 187 leaves |
| Condition | 45 leaves lost, according to manuscript note. |
| Previously kept | by the Ó Mhorda and Sir James Ware |
The Book of Leinster (Irish Lebor Laignech [ˈl͈ʲevor laignex]), is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled ca. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339). It was formerly known as the Lebor na Nuachongbála "Book of Nuachongbáil", a monastic site known today as Oughaval.
Some fragments of the book, such as the Martyrology of Tallaght, are now in the collection of University College, Dublin.
The manuscript is a composite work and more than one hand appears to have been responsible for its production. The principal compiler and scribe was probably Áed Ua Crimthainn, who was abbot of the monastery of Tír-Dá-Glas on the Shannon, now Terryglass (Co. Tipperary), and the last abbot of that house for whom we have any record. Internal evidence from the manuscript itself bears witness to Áed's involvement. His signature can be read on f. 32r (p. 313): Aed mac meic Crimthaind ro scrib in leborso 7 ra thinoil a llebraib imdaib ("Áed Húa Crimthaind wrote this book and collected it from many books"). In a letter copied by a later hand into a bottom margin (p. 288), the bishop of Kildare, Finn mac Gormáin (d. 1160), addresses him as a man of learning (fer léiginn) of the high-king of Leth Moga, the coarb (comarbu lit. 'successor') of Colum mac Crimthainn, and the chief scholar (prímsenchaid) of Leinster. An alternative theory was that by Eugene O'Curry, who suggested that Finn mac Gormáin transcribed or compiled the Book of Leinster for Áed.
The manuscript was produced by Aéd and some of his pupils over a long period between 1151 and 1224. From annals recorded in the manuscript we can say it was written between 1151 and 1201, with the bulk of the work probably complete in the 1160s. As Terryglass was burnt down in 1164, the manuscript must have been finalised in another scriptorium. Suggested locations include Stradbally (Co. Loais) and Clonenagh (Co. Laois), the home of Uí Chrimthainn (see below).
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