Posted 09 November 2009
President of Ireland visits Franciscan archive tracing 1,000 years of Irish history
Images from the archive now available for public viewing online
Manuscripts, documents, and early books which have been in the possession of the Irish Franciscans (OFM) since the seventeenth century are now under the care of the UCD Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute at University College Dublin.
The manuscripts, which tell the story of Ireland and its identity over a thousand years, are undergoing conservation, cataloguing and digitisation by UCD archivists and historians dedicated to research in Irish history and civilisation.
To commemorate 800 years of the Franciscan Order, the manuscripts which are rarely seen by anyone outside of the Irish Franciscan Order, were viewed by the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese at the UCD archives on 20 October 2009.
The priceless collection includes the only copy of the diary of the 1607 Flight of the Earls by Tadhg Ó Cianáin, historian to the Earls. On the 14th September 1607, a group of Ireland’s noble elite left from Donegal to find refuge in Europe and seek assistance for their cause in Ireland. They would never return. This is the first diary written in Irish and gives an account of the many cities, dignitaries and important shrines visited by the earls as they progressed through France, Flanders, Switzerland and Italy.
“The collection is a national treasure. It contains significant historical documents relating to the history of the Irish people both at home and abroad,” says Dr John McCafferty, Director of UCD Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute.
“The archival materials tell us how notions of Irishness, which last to the present day, were created in the seventeenth century, and they also demonstrate the important contribution made by the Irish to European culture and thought.”
The archival partnership between UCD and the Irish Franciscans is an innovative model of collaboration between a university and a religious order.
"For centuries the Irish Franciscans have been collecting and preserving documents and books which reflect their own history and that of the Irish people. Our colleges on the Continent made it possible for these treasures to be kept safe until now,” says Fr Caoimhín Ó Laoide OFM, Minister Provincial, Irish Franciscans.
“In 1997 we entered into a partnership with University College Dublin to preserve the collection and make it available to others. We are delighted with the expertise of the UCD archivists in caring for the collection. The collection does not simply tell us about the past - it also gives us an understanding of who we are and where we want to go as a people."
The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese viewed the following materials in the Irish Franciscans’ historical archive collection:
The Psalter of Caimín
The Psalter of Caimín: a unique fragment of an illuminated 12th century Irish manuscript from Co Clare saved by Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, the Irish Franciscan who directed the compilation of the Annals of the Four Masters (originally entitled the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, a chronicle of Irish history from prehistory to 1616 AD). Ó Cléirigh was given the manuscript for safe-keeping by the family that had preserved it on the island of Inis Cealtra throughout the medieval period. He brought it to Louvain where it remained in the possession of the Irish Franciscans to the present day.
The diary of the 1607 Flight of the Earls by Tadhg Ó Cianáin
The diary of Tadhg Ó Cianáin, historian to the Earls: This is the only copy of the description of the 1607/1608 Flight of the Earls as they and their retinue travelled from Donegal to Rome. Written by their chronicler Tadhg Ó Cianáin it is the first diary written in Irish and gives a lively account of the many cities, dignitaries and important shrines visited by the earls as they progressed through France, Flanders, Switzerland and Italy.
A music manuscript
A very rare folio of medieval music: this page from an 11th-century Italian manuscript was discovered as part of the binding of an early book and is regarded as a very rare survival of musical notation by historians of music. It consists of two forms of notation for chant sung on the feast of St Laurence.
15th century illuminated Italian manuscript
A 15th-century illuminated Italian manuscript: This manuscript was owned by Waterford-born Luke Wadding OFM, founder of St Isidore’s College Rome and the first Franciscan to chronicle the history of the Order. The beautiful opening illumination is a miniature of St Francis receiving the stigmata (wounds of Christ), a classical image of medieval times.
Papers from the Wadding archive: Luke Wadding was a towering figure in 17th-century Rome, linked to many of the powerful families who controlled the city and the Papacy. His archive is a treasure of papers which trace his career in Rome and his correspondence with all the important figures of Irish history during his lifetime. He is still so highly regarded that the main archive of the Franciscans in Rome was recently named ‘The Wadding Archive’ in his honour.
Signature page on the Annals of the Four Masters
Rare books: the Irish Franciscans encountered the hub of early printing presses when they settled in Flanders and as a result amassed a significant collection of books dating back to the sixteenth century. They also were the first to set up a printing press using an Irish font – it was established in Louvain in 1614. The thousands of rare books in the possession of the Irish Franciscans are of international significance (as is the whole archive) and its importance is only now being realized by scholars worldwide.
To view a selection of images from the Irish Franciscan Archive at the UCD Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute visit: www.isos.dias.ie
See also www.ucd.ie/mocleirigh
The 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Franciscan Order
The archive consists of thousands of manuscripts, documents and valuable early books which have been in the possession of the Irish Franciscans (OFM) since the seventeenth century. The President’s visit marks the 800th anniversary of the Franciscan Order worldwide and the contribution of the Order to the cultural and historical heritage of Ireland. Her visit to the archive reflects her own personal interest in the history of the Irish diaspora as many of the records in the archive document the history of Irish exiles on the Continent in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Irish Franciscan colleges of Louvain (founded 1607), Rome (1625) and Prague (1631) not only functioned as educational centres for the Order but also acted as quasi-embassies assisting Irish people landing in Flanders, France, Spain and Italy in their travels and in joining the growing number of Irish regiments being formed on the Continent at the time.
Flight of the Earls
On the 14th September 1607, a group of Ireland’s noble elite left from Donegal to find refuge in Europe and seek assistance for their cause in Ireland. They would never return. This episode in Irish history would become known as ‘Imeacht na nIarlai’ / the Flight of the Earls. It marked the end of an ancient Irish order that had survived over 1000 years and made way for the Plantation of Ulster. It was also a key event in the establishment of the Irish Diaspora around the world. The descendants of those involved in the event established themselves as leading figures in different fields of activity in their adopted countries.
One of the significant elements of the Irish Franciscan archive collection at University College Dublin is the only copy of the diary of the 1607 Flight of the Earls by Tadhg Ó Cianáin, historian to the Earls. It is the first diary written in Irish and gives an account of the many cities, dignitaries and important shrines visited by the earls as they progressed through France, Flanders, Switzerland and Italy.
