Library of the Royal Irish Academy

In 1845, American abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) led a speaking tour across Ireland and formed links with Daniel O’Connell and members of the Hibernian Anti-Slavery Society. (1/2) #BlackHistoryMonth

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 12, the Book of Ballymote. Written in 1391 in Ballymote, Co. Sligo, this is a compilation of religious and secular material in the Irish language. There is also an image of figures on a boat on the front flyleaf, possibly a depiction of Noah’s Ark.

Read more about the manuscript and view the digital images, provided by @dias-isos.bsky.social and copyright @ria.ie www.ria.ie/collections/...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 24 P 25, Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne/The Book of the Mac Sweeneys. This 16th century manuscript contains an account of the 6th century dispute between St Colum Cille & St Finnian over the ownership of a copy a Latin Psalter, which led to the battle of Cúl Dreimhne.

The MS of the Week is on display in the Reading Room of the Library this week from 10.00-16.30, Monday-Friday, except for Wednesday, when the Library will be closed due to industrial action. No appointment or reader’s ticket is required to view the MS of the Week

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 24 P 25, Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne/The Book of the Mac Sweeneys. This 16th century manuscript contains an account of the 6th century dispute between St Colum Cille & St Finnian over the ownership of a copy a Latin Psalter, which led to the battle of Cúl Dreimhne.

RIA MS 12 R 33, known as the Cathach, has been associated with this story. On page 81 of this week’s manuscript, you can read the famous ‘copyright’ judgement made by King Diarmait Mac Cerbhaill: to every cow its calf and to every book its copy.

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS C vi 1, the Book of Knockninny. The manuscript was compiled in 1718 for Brian Mág Uidhir of Knockninny, Co. Fermanagh. It contains a selection of historical poems and prose texts. You can listen to two Library Lunchtime Lectures about this manuscript at the link!

Read more about the manuscript and view the digital images, provided by @dias-isos.bsky.social and copyright @ria.ie www.ria.ie/collections/...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 M 70, Leabhar Gabhála/Book of Invasions. This is not the name of a specific manuscript but of an origin legend of the Irish people that exists in variant versions, traced to the 7th C. This copy was produced in 1631 by the scholars known as the Four Masters.

Read more about the manuscript and view the digital images, provided by @dias-isos.bsky.social and copyright @ria.ie www.ria.ie/collections/...

Investing in Dublin: Tontines, Women, and Financial Life in 19th century Ireland. 1pm, Wed 7 Oct. How did Dubliners use tontines to pay for community projects? How did women help to fund the Dublin-Drogheda railway? Join us for a Library Lunchtime Lecture @ria.ie . www.ria.ie/events/inves...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS D ii 1. The manuscript now known as the Book of Uí Mhaine was written in Irish in the late 14th C. The contents of the Book of Uí Mhaine are described in a marginal note as ‘bolg an tsolathair’ (bag of mixed content/miscellany).

Many folios have been lost over the centuries. There may have been 368 folios in the manuscript in the 15th C and just 157 folios now survive. Read more about the manuscript and view the digital images, provided by @dias-isos.bsky.social and copyright @ria.ie www.ria.ie/collections/...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 10(iii). This 15th century medical manuscript contains a translation of the major part of Book 1 of the Rosa Anglica of John of Gaddesden, with occasional pieces from Bernard of Gordon and Gilbert the Englishman interspersed.

Read more about the manuscript and view the digital images, provided by @dias-isos.bsky.social and copyright @ria.ie www.isos.dias.ie/RIA/RIA_MS_2...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS C iii 1, the Annals of Connacht. This manuscript records episodes in the history of Gaelic Ireland from AD 1224 to AD 1544, with one later entry (in different ink) for the year 1562. There are short gaps in the text where a pair of leaves may have been lost.

Read more about the manuscript and view the digital images, provided by @dias-isos.bsky.social and copyright @ria.ie www.ria.ie/collections/...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS C iii 1, the Annals of Connacht. This manuscript records episodes in the history of Gaelic Ireland from AD 1224 to AD 1544, with one later entry (in different ink) for the year 1562. There are short gaps in the text where a pair of leaves may have been lost.

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 E 29, the Book of Fermoy. This compilation of texts dates from between 14th-16th century. It includes material relating to the medieval Roche family and a duanaire (poembook) containing poems attributed to Gearóid Iarla, 3rd earl of Desmond (1338-1398).

Read more about the manuscript and view the digital images, provided by @dias-isos.bsky.social and copyright @ria.ie www.ria.ie/collections/...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 F 16, the Book of O’Gara. This important collection of poetry, compiled in the 1650s in continental Europe, preserves earlier material from sources that have since been lost.

We are delighted that RIA MS 23 N 17 is the LEIGHEAS project Manuscript of the Month! Our colleagues at @ceilteachomn.bsky.social are advancing knowledge of medical learning in the premodern Gaelic world! Read their latest blog: leigheas.maynoothuniversity.ie/leigheas-man...