160 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



greater part of the book, and doubtless at first the whole of its contents, are 

 penned, if not by a single hand, at least by a small number of nearly contem- 

 porary hands. The latest of these documents (nos. 31, 321 belong to the year 

 1360. But a note at the end of no. 22, in a different hand from the body of 

 the article, proves that that article was penned before 1396. The bulk of 

 the manuscript was, therefore, written between 1360 and 1396. And it may 

 probably be placed nearer the former than the latter of these years. For 

 Eichard Ledred, Bishop of Ossory, 1317-1360, is prominent throughout (see 

 nos. 14, 15, 19, 20); and the more important of the documents enumerated 

 above fall within the period of his Episcopate. "We shall perhaps not be far 

 wrong if we suppose that the Liber Ruber was written about the time of his 

 death, mainly as a record of memorabilia of the Diocese of Ossory during his 

 pastorate. It is some confirmation of this view that three of the later 

 additions are copies of documents which may be dated within twenty years 

 of his death (nos. 11, 12, 34.) 



A copy was made of at least portions of the Liber Riiber for Anthony 

 Dopping, Bishop of Meath, in 1686, which was afterwards in the possession 

 of John Stearne, Bishop of Clogher. Sir James "Ware also made some 

 extracts from the book which are still in existence. The volume contain- 

 ing them subsequently became the property of Henry, Earl of Clarendon, 

 Viceroy of Ireland, and passed with other of his manuscripts to the Duke 

 of Chandos. The Clarendon manuscripts next came into the hands of 

 Dr. Jeremiah Milles, Dean of Exeter, by whom they were presented to the 

 British ]\Iuseum.^ That one with which we are immediately concerned is 

 now Additional Manuscript 4787. It is sometimes cited as Clarendon 

 Manuscript 36. Both Dopping's and "Ware's transcripts were made use 

 of by Wilkins in his Concilia Magnae Britanniae^ which appeared in 1737. 



A description and calendar of the Liber Ruber by Sir John T. Gilbert 

 was printed in 1885 in the Tenth Pteport of the Historical Manuscripts 

 Commission, Appendix, Part V, p. 219 ff. ; and in an appendix thereto 

 (p. 228 ff.) many of the documents are given in their entirety. More 

 recently many extracts from the book have been printed by the Eev. 

 William Carrigan in his History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory, 1905. 

 In the following Calendar advantage has been taken of the labours of these 

 two writers. 



The compiler has to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance given him 



1 S. Ayseough, Catalogue of Additional Manuscripts, 1782, vol. i, p. vii ; Bernard's Catalogue, 1697, 

 vol. ii. piirt ii, p. 3 ; Diet, of Nat. Biog., vii. 162. 

 * See vol. ii, p. 501, vol. iii, p. 660, 



