Book of Leinster

Twelfth-century manuscript in Irish

Book of Leinster

Dublin, TCD, MS 1339 (olim MS H 2.18)

f. 53

Also known as| Lebor Laignech (Modern Irish Leabhar Laighneach); Lebor na Nuachongbála
Type| Miscellany
Date| 12th century, second half
Place of origin| Terryglass (County Tipperary) and possibly Oughaval or Clonenagh (County Laois)
Language(s)| Old Irish, Middle Irish
Scribe(s)| Áed Ua Crimthainn
Size| c. 13″ × 9″; 187 leaves
Condition| 45 leaves lost, according to manuscript note.
Previously kept| By the Ó Mhorda and Sir James Ware

Terryglass

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Location of Terryglass (Tír Dhá Ghlas) in Ireland

The Book of Leinster (Middle Irish: Lebor Laignech Middle Irish pronunciation: [ˈl͈ʲevər ˈlaɣʲnʲəx], LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled c. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College Dublin. It was formerly known as the Lebor na Nuachongbála ("Book of Nuachongbáil"), a monastic site known today as Oughaval.

In 2023, Trinity College started an extensive restoration project to make the manuscript available for public viewing.[1]

Fragments of the book, such as the Martyrology of Tallaght, are in the collection of University College Dublin.[citation needed]

## Date and provenance

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The manuscript is a composite work and more than one hand appears to have been responsible for its production. The principal compiler and scribe was probably Áed Ua Crimthainn,[2][3] who was abbot of the monastery of Tír-Dá-Glas on the Shannon, now Terryglass (County Tipperary), and the last abbot of that house for whom we have any record.[3] Internal evidence from the manuscript itself bears witness to Áed's involvement. His signature can be read on f. 32r (p. 313): Aed mac meic Crimthaind ro scrib in leborso 7 ra thinoil a llebraib imdaib ("Áed Húa Crimthaind wrote this book and collected it from many books"). In a letter copied by a later hand into a bottom margin (p. 288), the bishop of Kildare, Finn mac Gormáin (d. 1160), addresses him as a man of learning (fer léiginn) of the high-king of Leth Moga, the coarb (comarbu lit. 'successor') of Colum mac Crimthainn, and the chief scholar (prímsenchaid) of Leinster. An alternative theory was that by Eugene O'Curry, who suggested that Finn mac Gormáin transcribed or compiled the Book of Leinster for Áed.[3]

The manuscript was produced by Aéd and some of his pupils over a long period between 1151 and 1224.[3] From annals recorded in the manuscript we can say it was written between 1151 and 1201, with the bulk of the work probably completed in the 1160s. As Terryglass was burnt down in 1164, the manuscript must have been finalised in another scriptorium.[3] Suggested locations include Stradbally (Co. Laois) and Clonenagh (County Laois), the home of Uí Chrimthainn (see below).[3]

Eugene O'Curry suggested that the manuscript may have been commissioned by Diarmait Mac Murchada (d. 1171), king of Leinster, who had a stronghold (dún) in Dún Másc, near Oughaval (An Nuachongbáil). Dún Másc passed from Diarmait Mac Murchada to Strongbow, from Strongbow to his daughter Isabel, from Isabel to the Marshal Earls of Pembroke and from there, down several generations through their line. When Meiler fitz Henry established an Augustinian priory in County Laois, Oughaval was included in the lands granted to the priory.[citation needed]

## History

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A page from The Book of Leinster

Nothing certain is known of the manuscript's whereabouts in the next century or so after its completion, but in the 14th century, it came to light at Oughaval. It may have been kept in the vicarage in the intervening years.[citation needed]

The Book of Leinster owes its present name to John O'Donovan (d. 1861), who coined it on account of the strong associations of its textual contents with the province of Leinster, and to Robert Atkinson, who adopted it when he published the lithographic facsimile edition.[3]

However, it is now commonly accepted that the manuscript was originally known as the Lebor na Nuachongbála, which is the "Book of Noghoval", now Oughaval (County Laois), near Stradbally. This was established by R.I. Best, who observed that several short passages from the Book of Leinster are cited in an early 17th-century manuscript written by Sir James Ware (d. 1666), found today under the shelfmark London, British Library, Add. MS 4821. These extracts are attributed to the "Book of Noghoval" and were written at a time when Ware stayed at Ballina (Ballyna, County Kildare), enjoying the hospitality of Rory O'Moore. His family, the O'Moores (Ó Mhorda), had been lords of Noghoval since the early 15th century if not earlier, and it was probably with their help that he obtained access to the manuscript. The case for identification with the manuscript now known as the Book of Leinster is suggested by the connection of Rory's family to the Uí Chrimthainn, coarbs of Terryglass: his grandfather had a mortgage on Clonenagh, the home of Uí Chrimthainn.[4]

Best's suggestion is corroborated by evidence from Dublin, Royal Irish Academy MS B. iv. 2, also of the early 17th century. As Rudolf Thurneysen noted, the scribe copied several texts from the Book of Leinster, identifying his source as the "Leabhar na h-Uachongbála", presumably for Leabhar na Nuachongbála ("Book of Noughaval").[5] Third, in the 14th century, the Book of Leinster was located at Stradbally (County Laois), the place of a monastery known originally as Nuachongbáil "of the new settlement" (Noughaval) and later as Oughaval.[6]

## Contents

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Main article: Book of Leinster (contents)

The manuscript has 187 leaves, each approximately 13 by 9 in (33 by 23 cm). A note in the manuscript suggests as many as 45 leaves have been lost. The book, a wide-ranging compilation, is one of the most important sources of medieval Irish literature, genealogy and mythology, containing, among many others, texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn (the Book of Invasions), the most complete version of Táin Bó Cuailnge (the Cattle Raid of Cooley), the Metrical Dindshenchas and an Irish translation/adaptation of the De excidio Troiae Historia, and before its separation from the main volume, the Martyrology of Tallaght.[citation needed]

A diplomatic edition was published by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in six volumes over a period of 29 years.[citation needed]

## Conservation and display

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Following two years of extensive conservation, the Book of Leinster will be on display at Trinity College Dublin until August 2025.[1]

## Notes

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1. ^ a b Libreri, Samantha (21 May 2025). "'Wikipedia' of the Middle Ages goes on display at Trinity". RTÉ. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
2. ^ Best, The Book of Leinster, vol 1, p. xv.
3. ^ a b c d e f g Hellmuth, "Lebor Laignech", pp. 1125-6.
4. ^ Best, The Book of Leinster, vol 1, pp. xi–xvii.
5. ^ Thurneysen, Die irische Helden- und Königsage bis zum 17. Jahrhundert, p. 34.
6. ^ Best, Book of Leinster, vol. 1, p. xi-xv

## References

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### Editions

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* Atkinson, Robert. The Book of Leinster, sometimes called the Book of Glendalough. Dublin, 1880. 1–374. Facsimile edition.
* Book of Leinster, ed. R.I. Best; Osborn Bergin; M.A. O'Brien; Anne O'Sullivan (1954–83). The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála. 6 vols. Dublin: DIAS. Available from CELT: vols. 1 (pp. 1–260), 2 (pp. 400–70), 3 (pp. 471–638, 663), 4 (pp. 761–81 and 785–841), 5 (pp. 1119–92 and 1202–1325) . Diplomatic edition.

### Secondary sources

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* Hellmuth, Petra S. (2006). "Lebor Laignech". In Koch, John T. (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Denver, and Oxford: ABC-CLIO. pp. 1125–6.
* Ní Bhrolcháin, Muireann (2005). "Leinster, Book of". In Seán Duffy (ed.). Medieval Ireland. An Encyclopedia. New York and Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 272–4.
* Ó Concheanainn, Tomás (1984). "LL and the Date of the Reviser of LU". Éigse. 20: 212–25.
* O'Sullivan, William (1966). "Notes on the Scripts and Make-Up of the Book of Leinster". Celtica. 7: 1–31.

## External links

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* The Book of Leinster manuscript held at Trinity College Dublin [IE TCD MS 1339]
* Contents of the Book of Leinster
* Translations into English for much of the Book of Leinster
* Irish text: volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 at CELT

* v
* t
* e

Medieval Irish language manuscripts

in the library of the Royal Irish Academy|

* Book of the Dun Cow
* Book of Lecan
* Book of Fermoy
* Book of Ballymote
* Speckled Book
* Book of Ui Maine
* Liber Flavus
* The Cathach
* Ó Cléirigh Book of Genealogies

in the library at Trinity College Dublin|

* Thomond deeds
* Yellow Book of Lecan
* Book of Leinster

in the Bodleian Library, Oxford|

* Rawlinson B 502
* Rawlinson B 512
* Laud 610

in the British Museum|

* Add 40.618

in the University College Dublin Library|

* Leabhar na nGenealach

in the Boole library at University College Cork|

* Book of Lismore

See also Early Irish literature
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