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MS A 21

Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in University College Dublin

A 21

THE FLIGHT OF THE EARLS

17th cent. Paper. 22.5 × 16 cms. Ff. v (numbered in pencil)+pp. 136 + ff. 2 (numbered in pencil vi-vii). Scribe: Tadhg Ó Cianáin, Rome 1609, the author of the work. Scribal notes: 'Tadhg O Cíenain do scribh isan Roimh 1609' (15 i); 'Mar do batar tra sligthe salchae ~ ardbhothair imchomhga aimhreidhe o Doua go Turnae ni hinnill rug fer a scriptha ~ a fhaisnéissi so mess no brethnughadh ar in region . . .' (16 m); 'Tabair bennacht for anmain in Taidg fuair gne dia shaóthar sa ~cetera' (48 i); 'Tadhc O Cienain do scrip ~ tabairsi mile bennacht for a anmain ~cetera 1609' (77 i); 'Tadc do scribh ~ bennacht fora anmain. 1609' (94 i); 'Ane .14. septembris .1609. ro hadhlaicedh mac ~ oigri diles dingbala Í Neill .i. Aodh O Neill barún Dun Genainn . . .' (96 i); 'Tabair bennachtain for anmain in sgribnóra' (129 i). The extra leaves at beginning and end (part of the original MS) seem to be in two other hands.

Bound in boards and vellum with '19', 'The Flight of the O Neils' in ink and press-marks A 29 and I 8 labelled on front cover. Writing on f. vii verso: (a) 'Ni ben (?) re ccaithim díasle . . .'. (b) 'The contents of this Book should be considered.—I think'. Cancelled with pencil lines.

f.

i . [List of Popes.] Beg. 61. Vigilius primus anno—DXXX(. . .). Ends 237 Paulus papa quintus anno MDCVI. On f. vi r begins a list, 'Nomina Pontificum omnium a nativitate Christi'. Beg. 1 Sanctus Petrus anno—33. Ends (f. vii r i) [77]. Eugenius primus anno ( ), so that there is an overlap of 17 names between the two lists.

iii verso 'Nomina Imperatorum Romanorum'. Beg. 1. C. Julius Cesar ex fundatione Romana anno 706. Ends (f. v verso m) 138. Rudolphus secundus anno domini 1576 sub Gregorio XIII anno 4. Rest of page blank.

p.

[1] . [The Flight of the Earls.] Beg. A nainm Dhé. Ag so pairt do sceloib et dimthechtoib Í Neill on uair for fhagoip se Eire. Space left for ornamental capital A at beginning. Breaks off (p. 135 i) with events of the end of November 1608, apparently unfinished. The latest date found in the MS is 14 September 1609 (p. 96 i; see above) and the author may have died about this time. The following reference shows that he was dead by 1615: 'Examination of Lodder M'Donnell the 29th of May. He says he saw Couconnagh O'Kernan, a rhymer or chronicler . . . and that he thinks he was brother to Teige Oge O'Kennan that went with Tyrone and died at Roome . . .' (Cal. state papers Ire. 1615-25, 63; cf. PRIA 36 C 6 (1922) 117-18; BM Cat. i, 385 n. 2). The text has been edited from this MS with translation etc. by P. Walsh, Archiv. Hib. 2-4 (1913-15) app., and separately, The Flight of the Earls (Maynooth and Dublin 1916).

[136]. Blank.