Digitiú Lámhscríbhinní Gaeilge Choláiste Phádraig

Tá réimse leathan ábhair i mBéarla agus i nGaeilge ón 18ú and 19ú haois i Leabharlann Uí Chriagáin Choláiste Phádraig, ina measc ceithre lámhscríbhinn Ghaeilge. Tá na lámhscríbhinní seo á ndigitiú anois ag Institiúid Ardléinn Bhaile Átha Cliath mar chuid den tionscadal Meamram Páipéar Ríomhaire. Rinne an tOllamh Séamus P Ó Mórdha cur síos iomlán ar ábhar na lámhscríbhinní in alt leis a foilsíodh ar Studia Hibernica, iris de chuid an Choláiste. [Féach Iml. I (1962), lgh 172-94.]

Cláraíodh na lámhscríbhinní faoi na teidil Lámhscríbhinní I, II, III agus IV. Ábhar creidimh nó cráifeach is mó atá iontu, cé go bhfuil dánta agus téacsanna próis eile iontu freisin. Tá leagan neamhiomlán de Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe le hAodh Mac Aingil, seanmóir faoi Naomh Pádraig dar teideal Seanmóir ar Bheatha Phádraig, agus na téacsanna Agallamh an Anma agus an Chuirp, agus An Teanga Bhithnua i LS I, mar shampla. Leagan eile de Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe atá le fáil i LS II. Tá réimse ábhair éagsúil le fáil i LS III, ar a n-áirítear Iomarbháidh Oisín agus Phádraig, Pléaráca na Ruarcach, agus Pléaráca an Stafordaigh. Ar cheann de na cúiseanna gur díol spéise an lámhscríbhinn áirithe seo is ea gur scríobhadh í ar leathanaigh as foilseachán dlí, a bhfuil téacs na n-achtanna ar thaobh amháin díobh, achtanna a reachtaíodh sa bhliain 1772. Baineann dhá cheann de na hachtanna leis an bhféimheacht agus pléann an tríú ceann le moltaí a bhíothas a dhéanamh chun déileáil le corraíl a bhí ar bun ag an am i lár agus in oirthuaisceart Uladh. Is é atá i LS IV ná leagan den saothar a chum Séathrún Céitinn, Eochair-Sciath an Aifrinn, agus an téacs Beatha Phádraig.

Rinneadh LS III a dhigitiú i rith na bliana 2011, agus tá sé le feiceáil ar shuíomh an tionscadail.  Déanfar na trí lámhscríbhinn eile a réiteach agus a fhoilsiú de réir a chéile. Tá lúcháir ar mhuintir Choláiste Phádraig agus Leabharlann Uí Chriagáin go raibh páirt nach beag acu i ndigitiú na gcáipéisí luachmhara seo agus sa tionscadal tábhachtach féin. Is cúis bhróid don Choláiste é go bhfuil na lámhscríbhinní caomhnaithe i gcruth digitithe anois agus go bhfuil teacht ag pobal na Gaeilge i gcoitinne orthu.

Is féidir le lucht léinn ar spéis leo na lámhscríbhinní agus na cnuasaigh a scrúdú iad a fheiceáil ach coinne a dhéanamh leis an Leabharlannaí i Leabharlann Uí Chriagáin.

Digitizing of St Patrick’s College Irish-language manuscripts

The Cregan Library in St Patrick’s College holds a wide range of material in English and Irish from the 18th and 19th centuries, including four Irish manuscripts. These manuscripts are now to be made available digitally as part of the Irish Script on Screen (ISOS) Project of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. A full description of the contents of the Irish language manuscripts was compiled by Prof Séamus P Ó Mórdha and appeared in the College’s Irish Studies journal Studia Hibernica [See Vol. I (1961), pp 172-94.]

The manuscripts are indexed as Lámhscríbhinní I, II, III and IV. They contain mostly religious or devotional material, although they also include other poems and prose texts. LS I contains an incomplete version of Aodh Mac Aingil’s Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe, a sermon concerning St Patrick entitled Seanmóir ar Bheatha Phádraig and the texts Agallamh an Anma agus an Chuirp and An Teanga Bhithnua. Another version of Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe comprises the main part of LS II. A range of texts, among which are Iomarbháidh Oisín agus Phádraig, Pléaráca na Ruarcach, and Pléaráca an Stafordaigh, may be found in LS III. This manuscript is of particular interest in that it was written on the back of printed acts of the parliament in Dublin, which date from 1772. Two of these acts deal with bankruptcy, while a third contains proposals for dealing with unrest in mid- and north-east Ulster which was ongoing at the time of its compilation. LS IV comprises mainly a version of Geoffrey Keating’s Eochair-Sciath an Aifrinn and the text Beatha Phádraig.

LS III was digitized by the DIAS during 2011 and can now be viewed on line. Work to digitize the remaining three manuscripts is on-going and they will be made available in due course. St Patrick’s College and the Cregan Library are pleased to have been involved in the digitization of these holdings, thus playing a small but significant role in the ISOS initiative. The College is delighted that these manuscripts are now preserved in digital format and are thus available to a wider readership.

The manuscripts and other collections are available to all interested researchers, and may be consulted in the Cregan Library by appointment with the Librarian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: Thursday January 19 2012