Esposito — On the so-called Psalter of St. Caimin. 79 



The fragment was seen by Colgan 1 before 1645, but whether he had 

 access to it in Donegal or Louvain does not appear. His expression is 

 " propriis ooulis conspeximus." At the bottom of folio la is a much-faded 

 note, Ex libris Conventus de Dunnagall, possibly in Colgan's handwriting, 

 and in the lower margin of folio 2a occurs the following interesting memo- 

 randum in Irish in the writing of Michael O'Clery : — 



"Do reir ghnathchuimhne chloinne mheic Bruaidedha Flann & Bernard 

 amhail do chualattar aga nathair & ag each go coitchionn as e Caimin naomh o 

 Inis Cealtra for Loch Deircc Deirc i tTuadhmumhain do scriobh an leabhar 

 ina raibhe an duillennso. Ni machtiwrf/j firinne do bheith ace an a=is ealadhna 

 sin oir is i tTermonn Chaimin atad i nionatacht & i naitreabhadh & a sinnsir 

 rempa. Asfiadhain meisi an brat[h]air bocht Michel Cleirigh go ffacadhas 

 fein mac Bruaidedha na comhiiuidhe i tTermonn Caimin. & a chlann iar na 

 ecc som. As iadsein & Diarmait Duibhcert[aigh ?] dorad na duilleanna so 

 do leabhar Caimhin damsa an brathair remhraite & guidhedh gach aon dia 

 ffeicenn iad ar ar nanmannaibh diblinibh." 2 



"According to the tradition of the family of Mac Bruaidedha, Llann and 

 Bernard, as they heard it from their father and from everyone generally, it 

 was the holy Caimin of Inis Cealtra on Lough Derg in north Munster who 

 wrote the book in which this leaf was. It is not surprising that these learned 

 folk should know the truth, for it is in Termonn Caimin they and their ancestors 

 before them have been settled and in residence. I the poor Brother Michael 

 O'Clery am witness that I myself have seen Mac Bruaidedha 3 dwelling 

 in Termonn Caimin and his children after his death. They and Diarmait 

 ODuibhceartaigh it was who gave these leaves of Caimin's book to me the 

 aforesaid Brother, 4 and let everyone who sees them pray for both our souls." 



The exact date at which this memorandum was written cannot be 

 determined, but it must have been there before 16.39 — the year in which 

 Ussher and Ware drew attention to the MS. — and it was from this source 

 that they and certain more recent and equally credulous writers derived their 

 information as to its supposed origin. The Mac Bruaidedha from whose 



To the Rev. H. J. Lawlor, D.D., D.Litt., belongs the merit of having successfully 

 established this fact (cf . the notes appended to his edition of Ireland and the Geltic Church, 

 1907). I may, however, remark that he has far from succeeded in correcting all the errors 

 contained in Stokes' book. 



1 Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, i, 1645, p. 746. 



2 My friend Mr. R. I. Best has very kindly collated my transcript with the original, 

 which is in places somewhat effaced and difficultly legible. The English translation is 

 also due to the kindness of Mr. Best. 



3 I have not been able to trace the date of the death of this personage. 



4 Prom this it would appear that O'Clery had made another visit to the dwelling of 

 MacBrody after the latter's death. 



[12*] 



