Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 339 



LV. — On a MS. Yoltjme of Lives of Saints — chiefly Irish — now in 

 Primate Marsh's Library, Dublin, commonly called the " Codex 

 Kilkenntensis." By the Very Rev. William Reeves, D. D., Dean 

 of Armagh, V.P., E.I.A. 



[Read 25th of January, 1875.] 



There are three compilations which, in past days, have been distin- 

 guished by the title of "Book of Armagh" — the first, that which, 

 ■par excellence, bears the name, and which happily still exists in almost 

 its original integrity ; the second, that which Geoffry Keating more 

 than once cites in his " History of Ireland,"* under the title Le&fa&p 

 A]Vom&c1i&, and which appears to have been a collection of bardic 

 and genealogical materials ; the third, a volume of Irish hagiology, 

 from which, under the title of Codex Ardmadhanus, the Collectanea 

 Sacra of Patrick Fleming f largely draws. It is the last of these 

 which forms the subject of the present paper. 



At p. 303 of the work just named is the " Yita S. Comgalli, ex 

 MS. Codice Ardmacano transcripta." At p. 368, "Yita S. Moluaa 

 seu Luani abbatis, ex MS. Codice Ardmachano nunc primum in lucem 

 edita." At p. 380, " S. Mochoemogi seu Pulcherii abbatis vita, ex 

 MS. Cod. Ardmachano." There are besides, at pp. 313-315 extracts 

 from the Vitse S. Coemgeni, S. Cannici, S. Carthagi seu Mochuddse, 

 S. Munnae seu Pintani ; and again at pp. 432, 433, 436, and 437, 

 further extracts from the same manuscript. In one place, p. 125 b, 

 the writer describes an extract as "Ex MS. Cod. Armac. vel Dub- 

 linensi." Further on, he casually informs the reader $ of the deposi- 

 tory where this manuscript was preserved at the time these various 

 extracts were made, where he makes honourable mention of the 

 services of Pather Prancis Matthews, who, about the year 1626, with 

 great pains and diligence, caused transcripts to be made of two manu- 

 script volumes on parchment, one of which belonged to the Church of 



* See Haliday's Keating, pp. xcvi., 120, 304; also O'Mahony's translation 

 pp. lxii., 83, 208, 412. The latter Editor, however, in his note, p. lxii., ignorantly 

 confounds the authority referred to by Keating with the Canon Phadruig, whtse 

 contents are altogether of another class. 



t Published by Thomas Sirinus, Lovanii, 1667. 



% His words are : " Qua3 cum aliis plurium Sanctorum Hibemiae Legendis, quas 

 H.P. Franciscus Matthaeus, nunc Collegii nostri Guardianus, et nuper Provincialis 

 Minister nostrae Provinciae circa annum 1626, summo studio ac diligentia, ex duobus 

 MSS. veluminibus pergamineis (quorum unum ad Ecclesiam Ardmachanam vel 

 Dubliniensem spectat, et in Bibliotheca Iacobi Usserii, ex ordinatione Kegis 

 Angliae, Primatis Ardmachani, asservatur ; alteram ad Insulam qua) omnium Sanc- 

 torum dicitur pertinet) transumi curavit, ac ad Collegium nostrum transmitti, vel 

 hoc nomine de afflictae Hiberniae antiquitatibus optime meritus." Collect. Sac. 

 p. 431. See also p. 438 b. This Francis Matthews, who assumed the name of 

 Edmundus TJrsulanus, was executed at Cork in 1644 for alleged conspiracy. See 

 Cox, Hib. Anglican., ii. p. 143; Harris' Ware, vol. ii., Irish Writers, p. 119. 



SER. II., VOL. I., POL. LIT. & ANTIQ. 3 A 



