16 The Rev. J. H. Todd on an Ancient Irish Missal. 



English monastery at Lothra, founded by AValter de Burgh, in 1269. Gilla- 

 ruadhan O'Macan, from his Irish name, as well as from his title of Comharba, 

 must have belonged to the old Irish monastery. 



It is, therefore, by no means impossible that the MS. contained in this box 

 may have been the original Missal of St. Euadhan himself, the founder of the 

 monastery of Lothra, who died A. D. 584. The valuable ancient catalogue of 

 the Irish saints,* which divides them into three orders, the author of which 

 cannot be later than the seventh century, tells us that the first order of saints 

 (from St. Patrick to the reign of Tuathal Maelgarbh, who died A.D. 544) had all 

 the same mass, the same celebration, and the same tonsure, from ear to ear: — 

 " Unam missam, unam celebrationem, unam tonsuram ab aure ad aurem ;" but 

 that the second order of saints (who flourished from the end of Tuathal's reign 

 to that of Aedh Mac Ainmirech, who was killed in 599) had different masses 

 and different rules: — "Diversas missas celebrabant, et diversas regulas, unum 

 Pascha, quartadecima luna post tequinoctium, unam tonsuram ab aure ad aurem." 



St. Euadhan of Lothra belonged to the second class of saints, who had dif- 

 ferent missals and different monastic rules, although they kept up the quarto- 

 deciman Easter, and the old Irish tonsure from ear to ear. That is to say, they 

 did not confine themselves to one form of celebration, but adopted freely the 

 forms, or missals, which they found elsewhere on the continent of Europe ; and 

 it is probable that the MS. we are now to speak of was one of these different 

 missals. 



It exhibits internal evidence of having undergone the same sort of mutila- 

 tion as the case in which it is now contained. The original MS. was written 

 in an ancient Lombardicf character, which may well be deemed older than the 

 sixth century. But several leaves of this ancient book have been evidently 

 cancelled, and their places supplied by matter in an Irish hand of the tenth or 

 eleventh century. This is a circumstance of great importance, which has never- 

 theless been entirely unnoticed by Dr. O'Conor. 



* First published by UssHER (Works, vol. vi. pp. 477-479.), and afterwards by Fleming (Col- 

 leotan. Sacra, p. 430) from a different copy. 



t It should be borne in mind, that the characters styled Lombardic are in reality older than the 

 Lombardic invasion of Italy in the seventh century ; being the style of writing which the Lombards 

 found in use, and which they adopted when they learned letters from those whom they vanquished. 



