Dublin, King’s Inns Library MS 15
Siobhán Barrett
Fig. 1: Dublin, King’s Inns Library MS 15, fol. 117v: The scribe, Máel Eachlainn Mac an Leagha, has written his name in ogham at the end of the second paragraph (image courtesy of Irish Script on Screen).
This vellum manuscript from the 16th century was written by Máel Eachlainn Mac an Leagha, along with a second scribe, probably his brother Eoghan, both from a well-known medical family from the Sligo/Roscommon region. Máel Eachlainn has written his name over 20 times in the manuscript along with some snippets of information about his family. A note on fol. 16r tells us that he, the scribe, is Máel Eachlainn Mac an Leagha, son of Illann Mac an Leagha; that he is ollam in medicine to the two Mac Donaghs at Ballymote, Co Sligo; and that he wrote the manuscript along with his brother. Another note, dated 1512, mentions that he was in the house of William Tallon, in Herbertstown near Newbridge, County Kildare. In this note he also prays for Conaire O Maelchonaire, who gave him the book to copy. He tells us that he is missing his father Illann and his brother Eoghan, who are in Munster, and that his brother Connla is far from him in Moylurg, Co Roscommon (see the Manuscript of the Month entry for February 2024).
Fig. 2: Dublin, King’s Inns Library MS 15, fol. 76v: A note written by Máel Eachlainn Mac an Leagha in the house of William Tallon in Herbertstown, Co Kildare, dated 1512 (image courtesy of Irish Script on Screen).
One of this scribe’s quirks is his tendency to write his name in many different ways and he usually inserts these at the end of a section of text as a line filler. Some examples of these are: a signature in ogham on fol.117v; one in cipher on fol. 112v; and another where he writes his name backwards on fol. 106r.
There are only two texts in this manuscript. The first one is a tract on surgery, the De Chirurgia by Petrus de Argellata, and the second one is a tract on pathology dealing with diseases that affect every part of the body. This seems to be a compilation drawn from sources such as the Lilium Medicinae by Bernard of Gordon; a commentary on of the ninth book of Almansor of Rhazes by Geraldus de Solo; and the writings of a thirteenth-century English medical writer, Gilbertus Anglicus (see the LEIGHEAS Blog for August 2024). Máel Eachlainn Mac an Leagha’s bilingual Irish and Latin introduction to this second text explains his motivation for compiling it. He states that he wanted to write a short tract for modern people who prefer brevity and adds that summaries without a lot of theory prevent confusion in a time of distress and difficulty.
Further reading:
- Ní Shéaghdha, Nessa (1984), ‘Translations and Adaptations into Irish’, Celtica 16: 107–24
- Walsh, Paul (1947), ‘An Irish Medical Family ‒ Mac an Leagha’, in Irish Men of Learning. Studies by Paul Walsh, ed. by Colm Ó Lochlainn (Dublin: At the Sign of the Three Candles) pp. 206–18
- Wulff, Winifred (1926), ‘De Febre Efemera Nó an Liagh i N-Eirinn i n-Allod’, Lia Fáil 1: 126–9