r 481 ] 



IX. 



CALE^s^DAR OE DOCUMEXTS COI^TAmED THE CHAE- 

 TULAEY COMMONLY CALLED DIGNITAS DECAXI " 

 OF ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 



By Teet Ret. J. H. BER^S'ARD, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's. 



Eead JrxE 27, 1904. Ordered for publication February 15, 1905. Published 



April 4, 1905. 



The collection of Charters and Documents relating to the history of 

 St. Patrick's Cathedral, of which a Calendar is here printed, is 

 contained in a handsome yellum book (12^ inches by 9h inches) 

 preserved in the archives. The collection is a miscellaneous one — 

 papal confirmations, royal letters -patent, Acts of Parliament, episcopal 

 letters, and gi^ants of land being entered side by side Tvithout any 

 pretence of exact chronological sequence. The volume might be 

 described as a Chartulary ; and it is of the same character as the Ziber 

 Niger of Christ Church Cathedral, the Crede Mihi,^ and Archbishop 

 Alan's Register^- of which the two last-named are in the custody of 



1 Printed in full by J. T. Gilbert (1897). 



- This Tolume of miscellanea is often called the Liher Niger. But it is quite 

 a distinct book from the Liber Niger of Christ Church ; and it is desirable that it 

 should be given its proper title. As much confusion exists in the references to 

 Alan's Register, it maj' be well to set down the facts as to the various forms in 

 which it is extant. The original vellum book (A) compiled in the sixteenth century 

 for Archbishop John Alan is in the custody of the Archbishop of Dublin so far as 

 Part II. is concerned : but Part i. is missing, and has been missing for many years. 

 Of Part II. a considerable number of pages are lost ; and while the numeration at 

 the foot of the pages in Arabic figures gives the pagination of the volume in its 

 present condition, that in Roman figures at the top of the pages is the original. 



In the Archbishop's custody there is also a fine vellum copy (A2) of both parts 

 of A, which was made before any pages had been lost. It was probably made in 

 the first quarter of the eighteenth century, certainly before 1741, as appears from a 

 reference to it in the JDignitas Decani, made by Dr. John Lyon. It retains in the 

 margin the original pagination. 



Next there is a copy of the Register in Marsh's Library (M) which also was 

 made while the original M'as in a perfect condition. He professes to indicate in the 



R. 1. A. PROC, VOL. XXV., SEC. c] [38] 



