Leabhar Branach

The Leabhar Branach (Irish pronunciation: [ˌl̠ʲəuɾˠ ˈbˠɾˠan̪ˠəx]), also called the [Poem] Book of the O'Byrnes is an Early Modern Irish anthology of poetry collected in the early 17th century. It consists of poetry in praise of the O'Byrne family, who ruled a region known as Gabhal Raghnaill in modern County Wicklow.[1][2][3] The poems were written between roughly 1550 and 1630, a time of turmoil in Ireland that saw the Desmond Rebellions, Nine Years' War and O'Doherty's rebellion.[4][5]

Leabhar Branach
Also known asBook of the O'Byrnes
TypeCompilation of Irish poetry
Dateearly 1600s
Place of originCounty Wicklow
Language(s)Early Modern Irish
Dedicated toO'Byrnes
ConditionLost
ScriptIrish minuscule

According to scholar Seán Mac Airt, who published a print version in 1944, "the Leabhar Branach, apart from its linguistic value, is important in that it affords us some insight from an Irish standpoint into the life and fortunes of a sept bordering the Pale, during an interesting if unhappy era of our history".[6][4][7]

Ireland in 1500; the O'Byrne land is marked Ó Broin, in the east.

Contents

The poems were mostly written by poets of the McKeogh (Mac Eochaidh, Mac Eochadha) family.[8][9][10] Some are also by Eochaidh Ó hÉoghusa.[11]

Several poems are dedicated to Fiach McHugh O'Byrne (1534–1597).[12][13] His wife Rose O'Toole is described in one poem as "a blazing meteor, wine of grape, flower of women... She glows with the fire of youth. She is the life and death of heroes."[14]

Manuscripts

The original manuscript is lost. A copy was made by in 1622 by Brian Mac Giolla Phádraig. It is thanks to him that the poems survive as his copy was in turn copied by Hugh O'Daly; this manuscript is in Trinity College, Dublin, while a copy made by Michael O'Byrne in the 1720s is in Houghton Library, Harvard University.[15][16]

References
  1. "Leabhar Branach: The Book of the O'Byrnes". ainm.ie.
  2. Mac Airt, Seán (3 November 1944). "Leabhar Branach". Dublin Institute for the Advanced Studies – via Google Books.
  3. Ó Tuathail, Éamonn (1947). "Reviewed work: Leabhar Branach: The Book of the O'Byrnes, Seán Mac Airt". Irish Historical Studies. 5 (19): 249–253. JSTOR 30004866.
  4. "Leabhar Branach". 17 May 2007.
  5. "The Byrnes and the O'Byrnes Vol. II". HouseOfLochar.com. The House of Lochar Publishers.
  6. "Leabhar Branach – CODECS: Online Database and e-Resources for Celtic Studies". VanHamel.nl.
  7. "Leabhar Branach: The Book of the O'Byrnes – DIAS Shop".
  8. "Fada cuirthear clú deise" (PDF). Bardic Poetry Database (in Middle Irish).
  9. Mac Airt, Seán (3 November 1944). "Leabhar Branach". Dublin Institute for the Advanced Studies – via Google Books.
  10. "Archivium Hibernicum: Or, Irish Historical Records". Irish University Press for the Catholic Record Society of Ireland. 3 November 1941 – via Google Books.
  11. Mac Airt, Seán, ed. (1944). Leabhar Branach: The Book of the O'Byrnes. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. pp. xii. ISBN 9781855000087.
  12. "Poetry and Politics: Reaction & continuity in Irish poetry, 1558–1625, Marc Caball (Cork University Press, £16.95) ISBN 1859181627". 6 February 2013.
  13. Lethbridge, J. B. (3 November 2006). Edmund Spenser: New and Renewed Directions. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. ISBN 9780838640661 – via Google Books.
  14. Mac Eiteagáin, Darren. "The Rise of Feagh McHugh O'Byrne in Gaelic Leinster". Homepage.Tinet.ie.
  15. Byrne-Rothwell, Daniel (3 November 2010). The Byrnes and the O'Byrnes. House of Lochar. ISBN 9781904817048 – via Google Books.
  16. @HarvardLibrary (17 March 2017). "One of the earliest surviving manuscript copies of Leabhar Branach, or 'the Book of the O'Byrnes' from @HoughtonLib ..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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