Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in University College Dublin
A 5
SMAOINTE BEATHA CHRÍOST AND BEATHA MHUIRE
16th cent. Vellum. 31 × 22 cms. Ff. 26, now numbered 1-26 in pencil; no previous numbering. Double columns, average of 45 11. to column; initials ornamental throughout, rubricated on ff. 1-3. Gatherings: 1-7, 8-14, 15-22, 23-4, 25-6; ff. 8, 10, 13, 23, 24 singletons; conjunct of f. 6 cut out with loss of text (see below); ff. 23-6 may have been part of the same gathering originally. Ff. 1 r and 26 v used as covers and now defaced and quite illegible. F. 12 is a half-leaf. Two scribes: (a) to f. 14 v, (b) f. 15 r to end. Some variation in script of (a). F. 1 r marked as follows: 'Vita Christi', '3', 'No. 15', 'No. 11' and labelled with press-marks A. 5 and G. V. F. 15 r somewhat defaced, as if from exposure. Lower outer corners of ff. 25-6 seem to have been gnawed by mice. MS briefly described by C, Ó Maonaigh, Smaointe beatha Chríost (Baile Átha Cliath 1944) xxvii.
Marginalia: (a) 2 r, upper margin. 'Leabhar Cathuil I Eachaidhen fagbuim aige fein - bennacht a Lobain, 8 September 1622'. (b) 3 r i 'Vita S. Ceciliae (?) / Beatha Criost - Muire' (probably in Colgan's hand). (c) 5 r, upper margin. Maille sas maille mo cheim. 1 q. (d) 12 v, upper margin. 'Fromad pinn ~ duib annso o Baothalach Maclanchaidhe ar leabh[ar] Donnchaidh Í Ici'. (e) Note on 15 v, right margin, largely erased. Ends '. . . mac Síthí ec' (f) 23 v, left margin. 'Dath achnis uile mur aol as Aodh Buidhe ris da radh'.
Other notes and scribblings occur on ff. 1 v, 3 r, 4 v, 6 r, 8 v, 9 r, 22 v.
f.
1 v . [Vita Rhythmica Beatae Mariae Virginis.] Continuation from 1 r. Beg. siledh o cheli ⁊ dobeir gach uili ni dib so a thorad nadurdha ana ninmuigh fhein. (St Anne lamenting her barrenness.) The chapter headings are in Latin, but sometimes corrupt, e.g.: Quodh Uirgo mea anunciata fuit ⁊c. Ends ⁊ docua Muire co teach a athur an tan sin, Finit. Amen. [=ed. M. Ó Domhnaill, Beatha Mhuire (Baile Átha Cliath 1940, from RIA 23 K 38) 12.6-35 m, with loss of text between ff. 1 and 2 corresponding to Ó Domhnaill, 17.19-28.12]. Cf. BM Cat. ii, 548-9. See also f. 21 c 17.
2 d m. A litany of the Blessed Virgin. Beg. A Muire mor, a Muire as mo do na Muiribh. Ends ~ f eithnigh duin (uile ?) an brethemhnus in cecula ceculorum Amen. Ed. and trans, from LB by C Plummer, Irish litanies (HBS LXII, 1925) 48-51; cf. J. F. Kenney, Sources for the early history of Ireland I (New York 1929) 730.
3 a. [Meditationes Vitae Christi], formerly attributed to St Bonaventure. Irish version of Tomás Gruamdha Ó Bruacháin, between 1430 and 1461. Beg. Inter alia uirtutum [et] laudum praeconia. Half of 14 d blank; other gaps also occur in text. Ed. from RIA 23 B 3 and other MSS by C. Ó Maonaigh, Smaointe beatha Chríost (Baile Átha Cliath 1944). Ends (f. 21 c m) ⁊ ní téstaighenn moladh na conach uatha ⁊rl. (Ó Maonaigh, 1. 6011).
21 c 17. Continuation of Vita rhythmica beatae Mariae virginis. Beg. De statu et modo uiuendi uirginis Marie [post] ascencionem fili eius. F. 26 b i ends in middle of section, Mar do gabadh Muire an ix ord, with words bennaidhthi os mnai[bh]. (Ó Domhnaill, op. cit., 35 m-70.14.) F. 26 v illegible. This part of the Vita rhythmica also occurs separately in other MSS and has been edited by Mary E. Byrne in The Irish Monthly 1925, 607-13, etc., from a paper MS in Cashel Diocesan Library (now Cashel Loan MS 24 in the library of the Church of Ireland Representative Body, Dublin).