Patrick Ferriter
UCD Library Special Collections holds the Patrick Ferriter Irish Manuscript Collection.
Identity Statement
Reference code IE/UCD/SC/Ferriter mss
Title
Patrick Ferriter Manuscripts.
Dates 1889–1923.
Level of description
Fonds.
Extent
39 items.
Context
Creator
Patrick Ferriter (1856 - 1924).
Biographical History
- Patrick Ferriter was born in An Baile Uachtarach on the Dingle peninsula.
- He collected local songs, poems, stories and folklore. He also copied from other manuscripts which he had on loan.
- In 1895 he left Ireland for Boston and continued to collect material from Irish speakers he met there.
- Ferriter visited a number of libraries including that in the Boston Athenaeum and the American Irish Historical Society and copied material from manuscripts in their possession.
- By 1904 Ferriter had moved to New York, where he edited material for the Irish language column of The Gaelic American.
- He contributed material to An Gaodhal as well as to The Gaelic American and the Irish Echo.
- Ferriter fell sick in the year 1923 and then moved to relatives in Chicago where he died.
- He bequeathed his entire manuscript collection to Douglas Hyde for the library of the National University of Ireland, Dublin.
Biographical information from Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail, 'Athfhéachaint ar bhailiúchán lámhscríbhinní an Fheiritéaraigh', Éigse 49 (2019), 186–206; Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail, 'Patrick Ferriter: an Irish scholar at home and abroad', The American Journal of Irish Studies 15 (2019 [2020]), 164–94.
Source of Acquisition
Donated to UCD Library in 1924.
Scope and Content
- Thirty-nine volumes of Gaelic manuscript materials, collected or compiled by Patrick Ferriter both in Kerry and the USA.
- His sources included printed sources, manuscripts in public and private custody in the USA as well as interviews with Irish speakers in Kerry and in the USA.
- The manuscripts include songs and poems, explanations of proverbs in Irish and copies of poems that were published in the two New York Irish newspapers, The Irish American and An Gaodhal.
- Ms16 contains stories in Irish collected from the people of Corcha Dhuibhne in the 19th century.
- One manuscript is a history of the families of the district, written in a shopkeepers notebook, with lists of customers and groceries also still in the notebook.
- Ms19 contains political notes of the Parnellite period including resolutions against priests in Kerry.
- The collection also includes 18 volumes of traditional Gaelic manuscripts written by various scribes and collected by Ferriter.
- These manuscripts contain popular Munster poetry in Irish, Ossianic verse, religious poetry, prayers, romantic tales in Irish collected by scribes such as Uilliam Ó Hógáin, Mícheál Ó Corcoráin, Seán Ó Dreada and others.
- Ferriter manuscripts 40-42 are privately owned but are available for consultation on microfilm in Special Collections.
Access and Use
- The material in this collection is available by appointment to students, teaching staff, and independent researchers. We also welcome interested members of the public.
- Please contact us at (opens in a new window)special.collections@ucd.ie for further information. To book an appointment (opens in a new window)click here.
Reproduction
Photocopying of archival collections is not permitted. Photography permissions and policies vary. Please contact (opens in a new window)special.collections@ucd.ie for more details regarding the photography of this specific collection.
Language
Primarily Irish.
Finding Aid
See Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail, 'Athfhéachaint ar bhailiúchán lámhscríbhinní an Fheiritéaraigh', Éigse 49 (2019), 198–206, and also the (opens in a new window)Ferriter Manuscript collection checklist listed above.