Writer sheds light on ancient book

THE historic Book of Lismore was compiled at the Franciscan Monastery in Timoleague, and not in Waterford, as its title might indicate.

Michael Slavin explains in his new work The Ancient Books of Ireland that it is generally accepted the manuscript was written in the West Cork abbey.

He traces the book’s history since it was completed about 1480 as a wedding present to Finghin MacCarthy Reagh, leader of the Cork sept of the MacCarthy family.

It was later housed at Kilbrittain Castle, which was attacked in 1642 by forces headed by a son of the Earl of Cork, whose seat was at Lismore Castle, where the book ended up.

It was rediscovered damaged in a secret passage by a workman during restoration work at the castle in 1814. The Royal Irish Academy commissioned a facsimile copy in 1839. Fifty of its leaves were missing.

But the remaining 197 were removed from Lismore Castle to the Duke of Devonshire’s estate in at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, where it is part of a vast library valued at about £90 million (€132m).

The Book of Lismore, which includes a detailed narrative of Fionn MacCumhaill and the Fianna, was loaned to the Irish Manuscripts Commission in the 1940s and this resulted in a photographic collotype facsimile being created by the British Museum.

Several sections of the book have also been translated and published.

It is one of 16 ancient books of Ireland whose story is told in the lavishly-illustrated work by Mr Slavin, an antiquarian bookseller in Tara, Co Meath and former RTÉ equestrian commentator.

They include the ninth century Book of Armagh with early accounts of St Patrick’s arrival in Ireland and which was once pawned for a fiver to pay for the work of a British spy.

Compiling the story and history of the manuscripts, including details on the Book of Fermoy, was a labour of love for Mr Slavin, the author of books including The Book of Tara - now in its third edition - and Show Jumping Legends.

Published by Wolfhound with support from the Irish Dairy Board and Heritage Council, there are references to the dairy legends and history of the land in just about every ancient manuscript covered in the book.

National Museum director Dr Patrick Wallace said the publication will increase appreciation at home and abroad for the treasures of Irish learning.