Cín Dromma Snechtai
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or ("book of Druimm Snechta"; la, label= Modern Irish, Leabhar Dhroim Sneachta, ) is a now lost early Irish manuscript., thought to have been written in the 8th century AD.


Name

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...
''cín'', derived from the Latin ''quinio'' "five", was a small book made of five folded
vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anim ...
leaves; ''lebor'', modern Irish ''leabhar'', is the standard word for a book. It is "named from the place of its origin or preservation, namely Druim(m) Snechta (Drumsnat,
County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County C ...
), where a monastery had been founded in the sixth century." The majority consensus of scholars is that the original manuscript was compiled at Bangor Abbey, County Down, the mother house of Druim Snechta monastery. A copy may then have been sent to each of the daughter houses or a scribe from Druim Snechta may have copied it at Bangor.


Scholarship

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...
was aware of the book, although he does not seem to have had access to it himself in compiling his '' Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'',John T. Koch, ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1'', ABC-Clio, 2006, pp. 437-438 and believed it dated to before the arrival of
Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints b ...
. The 19th-century scholar
Eugene O'Curry Eugene O'Curry ( ga, Eoghan Ó Comhraí or Eoghan Ó Comhraidhe, 20 November 179430 July 1862) was an Irish philologist and antiquary. Life He was born at Doonaha, near Carrigaholt, County Clare, the son of Eoghan Ó Comhraí, a farmer, and ...
found a marginal note in the
Book of Leinster The Book of Leinster ( mga, Lebor Laignech , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled c. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339). It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' "Book ...
, partly illegible, which said that the ''Cín'' was compiled by a son of Dauí, king of Connacht. O'Curry favoured Ernín, son of Dauí Galach, a nephew of
Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall ''Noígíallach'' (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centurie ...
and a contemporary of Patrick, but allowed that it may have been a son of
Dauí Tenga Uma Dauí Tenga Uma (died 500) was a King of Connacht from the Uí Briúin branch of the Connachta. Biography Dauí Tenga Uma ("Copper-Tongue"—for the beauty of his speech) is listed in the genealogies as a great-great-great grandson of Brión, t ...
, a king of Connacht who died at the end of the fifth century (
Francis J. Byrne Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian. Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. ...
believes the two kings were in fact the same person).
Rudolf Thurneysen Eduard Rudolf Thurneysen (March 14, 1857 – 9 August 1940) was a Swiss linguist and Celticist. Biography Born in Basel, Thurneysen studied classical philology in Basel, Leipzig, Berlin and Paris. His teachers included Ernst Windisch and H ...
, who made a convincing reconstruction of its contents in 1912-13, proposed a date in the early 8th century for the writing of the book. Other scholars have proposed dates in the 9th or 10th century, although these are disputed. It is cited as a source by many of the most important early Irish manuscripts, including '' Lebor na hUidre'', the Book of Leinster, the Book of Ballymote, the Great Book of Lecan, and the MS Egerton 88. Texts believed to originate from the ''Cín Dromma Snechtai'' are notable for their archaic language, and include:James Carney, "Language and Literature to 1169", in Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, ''A New History of Ireland Vol 1: Prehistoric and Early Ireland'', Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 451-510 *'' Compert Con Culainn'' ("the conception of Cúchulainn") *'' Compert Mongán'' ("the conception of Mongán") *'' Immran Brain'' ("the voyage of Bran") *'' Echtra Condla'' ("the adventure of Conla") *A version or précis of ''
Togail Bruidne Dá Derga ''Togail Bruidne Dá Derga'' (''The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel'') is an Irish tale belonging to the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. It survives in three Old and Middle Irish recensions, it is part of the Book of Dun Cow. It recounts th ...
'' ("the destruction of Dá Derga's hostel") *A version of ''
Tochmarc Étaíne ''Tochmarc Étaíne'', meaning "The Wooing of Étaín/Éadaoin", is an early text of the Irish Mythological Cycle, and also features characters from the Ulster Cycle and the Cycles of the Kings. It is partially preserved in the manuscript known a ...
'' ("the wooing of Étaín") *''Verba Scáthaige fri Coin Culaind'' ("The Words of Scáthach to Cúchulainn") *''Forfes Fer Fálchae'' ("the siege of the men of Fálchae") *An early version of ''
Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'', is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish fro ...
'' ("Book of Invasions of Ireland")


References

{{reflist 8th-century manuscripts Early Irish literature Irish texts Irish-language literature Irish books