Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy
539
LEBOR GABÁLA: GENEALOGICAL
14th (?), 17th, and 18th centt. A composite MS. of vellum and paper, containing at least four distinct sections: (a) Ca. 12 × 8. Ff. 6 (vellum). (b) 10 × 7½. Pp. 4. (c) 12 × 7. Pp. 30. (d) 11½ × 7. Pp. 126. The whole is now foliated consecutively in pencil, 1-86. An older foliation standing on ff. 31- 86, and reading 1-56, would point to yet a fifth section within section (d). This earlier foliation is not always legible, but serves to identify fo. 56 as the lower half of fo. 78, which has been misplaced in binding. In the table of contents below, the items on the present fo. 56 are listed in their proper order as occupying the lower half of fo. 78. The paper portion of the MS., particularly the subsection beginning fo. 31, is stained on the margins, and crumbling away; serious loss has already resulted in the text. Ff. 27, sup. marg., 49, inf. marg., have been cut away. There are holes, caused by sparks, in ff. 53, 60. Section a belongs in reality to the Lebor Gabála text, occurring D. iv. 1, and these three MSS. should have been bound together. For the scribe see above, D. v. 1, D. iv. 1. His name is not given, but a curious scribal note occurs fo. 1 v°, sup. marg.: “Ac so lebor clainni p.i.b.p.,” etc. (see below, fo. 1). Sections b, c are in the hand of Charles O'Conor of Belanagare (dated 1779), as is stated in the case of c by his grandson, Dr. Charles O'Conor in his entries on flyleaves (see below). Section d bears on fo. 43 r°, inf. marg., the colophon: “A mBaile Mic Aodagain aniu damhsa Philip Úa Duiginain.” On fo. 56 v° (recte 78 v°) the signature of the scribe, Mathgamhain O Duibhgeannain, with the date 1644 occurs. To judge by the correspondence of the signatures, ff. 24-27 r°, 56 (recte 78), 75-78 v° are in Mathgamhain's hand, and possibly the later portion of this section d also. Scribblings in various hands occur, ff. 29 v°, 30 r°, 30 v°, 83 v°. Charles O'Conor's hand occurs in section d at fo. 49 r°, marg., and elsewhere.
Ff. 27 v°, 28 r°, 28 v°, 29 r°, 65 v° (except for three lines), 79 r°, 79 v° 84 r°, are blank. Bound in calf, blind-tooled, with gilt- lettered inscription on back of cover, “Irish MS. No. iv. Reim Riograidhe Saec. XIV.” A number, 986 (Ashburnham) occurs on the MS. formerly in Stowe and Ashburnham Collections. Press no. (of Stowe Collection) 1/4 (see inside front flyleaf, where a pencilled “24 d” is added).
The front flyleaves contain a summary in English of the contents of the MS., by Dr. Charles O'Conor. The binder's flyleaves throughout bear the watermark “H. Willmott 1812.”
(a)
fo.
1 r °. [LEBOR GABÁLA.] This is a continuation by the same scribe of the text as found in D. v. 1, D. iv. 1, which ended imperfectly at a point corresponding to Lec., Facs. 9 v°b 8, owing to a lacuna in the exemplar. Text resumes here at a point corresponding to Lec., Facs. 18 r°a (van Hamel's Bb-version, Thurneysen's B III). Some folios may have been lost before the initial folio. On fo. 1 v° occurs a curious marginal note, which the present cataloguer has been unable to decipher: “Ac so Lebor Clainni. p.i.b.p. ⁊ teib ⁊ taim cona reim .s. ac Muirgius (?) .c.c. ⁊ Lebor Irisi ac.s. ⁊ tosach .f. reim .s.t.c. ⁊. l.d.t.e. ac Lochlann (?).”
1 r °a. [Goedel Glass o tait Goidil.] Acephalous: 27 qq. remain. Beg. here Dorochair Refill iar tain. (= Lec., Facs. 18 r° a.)