O'Davoren's Glossary
O'Davoren's Glossary is an early modern glossary of Old Irish terms, many of which are legal in nature. The glossary is important for its well-preserved quotations from early Irish legal texts (which would otherwise have been lost or preserved only in corrupt form). The glossary is associated with the Mac Aedhagáin (McEgan) law school in Park, Galway
Manuscripts and editions
[edit]O'Davoren's Glossary survives in two independent and contemporary copies, British Library, MS Egerton 88 (given the siglum E) and Trinity College Dublin, MS 1317 (given siglum F).[1]: 100 E is from the hand of Domhnall Ó Duibhdábhoirenn (O'Davoren) and is dated 1564.[2]: 52 The manuscript Egerton 88 is associated with O'Davorens, an obscure Irish legal family.[3]: 240 F is from the hand of Dubhaltach Mór Mac Firbhisigh.[a] Of the two manuscripts, F is the much worse preserved: the definitions under the letters A, B, and O are entirely missing; substantial portions are missing from other letters; and, in some sections, the scribe substituted definitions from other glossaries.[1]: 100–101 [2]: 52–53
Whitley Stokes was the first to publish an edition of O'Davoren's Glossary. His earlier edition (1862) gave the text of E with readings from F in the corrigenda; his later edition (1904), which he published with an English translation, incorporated some readings from F, but was still largely based on E. D. A. Binchy re-edited E in a diplomatic edition for the Corpus Iuris Hibernici (1978).[1]: 100 Modern editors have tended to favour the readings from F, where the manuscript is not too badly damaged and the glosses are not borrowed.[1]: 102 [2]: 53 Liam Breatnach (2005) gives a list of superior readings from F not included in Stokes's later edition.[1]: 102
Contents
[edit]O'Davoren's Glossary gives concise definitions of more than 1618 difficult Old Irish terms.[2]: 52 An illustrative quote (sometimes two or three quotes) frequently accompanies these definitions. The glosses and quotations in O'Davoren's Glossary are frequently legal in subject matter.[1]: 106, 108 O'Davoren's glossary is associated with the Mac Aedhagáin (McEgan) law school in Park, Galway.[4]: 196
The compilers of O'Davoren's Glossary were working with better manuscripts of the early Irish legal texts than are available to us today. In many cases, quotes from the glossary has been used by scholars to substitute or correct poor manuscripts of these legal texts.[3]: 241 Moreover, a number of legal texts which have not survived, or have survived only in fragments, have quotes from them in the glossary. Liam Breatnach calls the glossary "a source of the utmost importance in dealing with incomplete and fragmentarily preserved [legal] texts."[1]: 103–105 The legal texts that the glossary most frequently quotes are Bretha Nemed Toisecl, Bretha Nemed Dédenach, and the first two thirds of Senchas Már.[1]: 102–103
O'Davoren's Glossary is not solely legal in subject matter. It contains a number of glosses of difficult words from Dindshenchas and from the Mythological Cycle.[2]: 52 Quotes from non-legal sources are rare, but occasionally appear.[1]: 106 The glossary contains quotes from the Amra Coluimb Chille ("Poem for Saint Columba") and the Flire Óenguso ("Martyrology of Óengus").[4]: 196
Notes
[edit]- ^ Dubhaltach Mór Mac Firbhisigh was grandfather of the more famous Dubhaltach Mac Firbhisigh (d. 1671), and was active at the same time as the scribe of O'Davoren's Glossary in E, contributing to some writing to MS Egerton 88 in 1570.[1]: 102
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Breatnach, Liam (2005). A Companion to the Corpus Iuris Hibernici. Early Irish Law Series. Vol. 5. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies.
- ^ a b c d e Mahon, William John (1987). Contributions to the Study of Early Irish Lexicography (PhD). Harvard University. ProQuest 303580687.
- ^ a b Kelly, Fergus (2002). "Texts and transmissions: the law-texts". In Chatháin, Próinséas Ní; Richter, Michael (eds.). Ireland and Europe in the early Middle Ages: texts and transmissions. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 230–242.
- ^ a b Blom, Alderik H. (2024). "The Irish glossary tradition: An introduction". In Bulitta, Brigitte; Pelle, Stephen (eds.). Words – Texts – Scribal Hands: Linguistic and Cultural Interactions Between the Frankish Empire, Ireland, and Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Akademie Forschung. pp. 189-214. doi:10.1515/9783110776225-007.
Further reading
[edit]- Binchy, D. A. (1978). Corpus Iuris Hibernici (6 vols.). Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies. 1466.11-1531.24 (diplomatic edition of E).
- Breatnach, Liam (2005). A Companion to the Corpus Iuris Hibernici. Early Irish Law Series. Vol. 5. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies. 109-160 (the quotes in O'Davoren's Glossary and their origin).
- Stokes, Whitley (1862). Three Irish glossaries: Cormac's Glossary, O’Davoren's Glossary and a glossary to the Calendar of Oengus the Culdee. London: Williams and Norgate. pp. 47-124 (text from E); pp. 162-168 (readings from F).
- Stokes, Whitley (1904). "O'Davoren's Glossary". Archiv für celtische Lexikographie. 2: 197–504.
External links
[edit]- Bibliography for O’Davoren’s glossary at CODECS: Collaborative Online Database and e-Resources for Celtic Studies.