The Four Masters and their Manuscripts, Studies in Palaeography and Text

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SKU: F1.13 Categories: ,

Description

by Pádraig A. Breatnach
Published: 2013
Format: Hardback
Pages: xiv + 206
Reference: F.1.13
ISBN: 978-1-85500-224-1

Led by Brother Míchél Ó Cléirigh, O.F.M., the Four Masters worked together
between 1630 and 1636 to compile a series of historical tracts and records that
are among the most important Irish writings from any century. No part of these
productions was destined to appear in print in the years following completion,
but in all cases autograph manuscripts have survived the intervening centuries. The
distinction of The Four Masters and their manuscripts is that it
treats the compilers as scribes as well as chroniclers, and their collaboration
as combining individual endeavours, capable of being differentiated through
palaeographical and textual analysis. The scribal styles and independent
manuscript legacy of each of the two most outstanding members of the group
Míchél Ó Cléirigh and Cú Coigcríche Ó Cléirigh are documented here for the
first time. A final chapter looks at their lives and those of their two
associates Fear Feasa Ó Maoil Chonaire and Cú Coigcríche Ó Duibhgeannáin in the
aftermath of their joint enterprise, when war and conquest impacted around them
with destructive consequences for the culture and learned institutions of
Gaelic Ireland.

The book is fully illustrated with manuscript images accessed from the the resources of the Irish Script on Screen (ISOS) on-line project of the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Additional information

Weight 779 g