2 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



two books of the same Church known as Liber Alhus and Liher Niger. Of 

 these last a Calendar is here printed which, it is hoped, may prove useful to 

 students of the Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Ireland. 



The Liher Alhus of Christ Church is a volume of 73 leaves of vellum, 

 measuring about 28 by 19 cent. It consists of nine gatherings, all of which 

 are of eight leaves except the first, second, and fifth. The first has now five 

 leaves ; originally it had four. It contains the table of contents, and was 

 obviously added after the work was completed. The second gathering has ten 

 leaves. The fifth, which likewise has ten, had originally, like most of the 

 others, eight, two having been inserted later. On the other hand, the third 

 gathering, which has now eight leaves, had originally only six. The contents 

 of the book are of the kind which one expects to find in such a record — 

 charters, leases, rentals, &c., together with a few wills, and inventories of 

 the goods of the testators. According to a note on f. 57, it was compiled 

 by Thomas Fyche, canon and sub-prior of the convent, who died 17th January, 

 1518. And though several of the documents which the book preserves are of 

 a date considerably later than Fyche's death, there is no reason to doubt the 

 correctness of the statement. For the articles are numbered in a contemporary 

 hand; and the fact that no less than eighteen articles (Nos. 3, 15, 16, 34, 55, 

 67-79) are passed over in this numeration, and in the original table of contents, 

 proves that they were added subsequently. In fact, the manuscript, as 

 originally written, abounded in blank pages. And these have been utilized, 

 to our advantage, by later scribes. The latest of the documents to which 

 the old numbers are attached (Xo. 51) bears the date 8th November, 

 1504. Thus the compilation may with confidence be dated between 1505 

 and 1517. And this conclusion is confirmed by the character of the 

 script. 



The contemporary table of contents has been enlarged so as to include the 

 later entries, the additions to it being in the hand of the well-known antiquary, 

 Dr. John Lyon. 



In the present Calendar the articles have been numbered continuously in 

 Arabic figures, the older numbers being indicated by Eoman figures. 



The calendar does not include six leaves, four at the beginning and 

 two at the end of the volume, which are filled with writing in an extremely 

 difficult hand and with many contractions. These have been examined by 

 Mr. M. J. M'Enery of the Public Eecord Office, Dublin, who has been so good 

 as to supply the following note on their contents : — 



" The first four and last two membranes of the Liber Alhus have nothing 

 in common with the rest of the book. The text of these six membranes consists 



