Book of Ballymote

The Royal Irish Academy had recently launched a book about The Book of Ballymote which was compiled over six hundred years ago in the town for the ruling Mac Donnchaidh (McDonagh) family who then occupied Ballymote Castle. Written towards the end of the fourteenth century (c. 1384-1403), it is one of the most extensive and most lavishly illustrated Irish manuscripts surviving from the Late Middle Ages. The importance of the book was recognised when it was the subject of a conference held at the academy in 2015. The recently launched book contains extensive series of essays based on the papers delivered by leading scholars at the conference. The essays look at the various aspects of the book’s contents. One essay by the late Professor Donnchadh Ó’Corráin looks at the genealogical treasures to be found of the book. The Book of Ballymote is now housed in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin’s Dawson Street and has been digitised as part of the Irish Script on Screen project and can be viewed at www.isos.dias.ie

The recommended retail price of the book of essays is €55 and it may be ordered via bookshops or via the Academy website https://www.ria.ie/publications/new-publications

Martin Timoney and Leo Leyden, Sligo Field Club, Prof. Ruairí Ó hUiginn, MRIA, Director DIAS, School of Celtic Studies (editor), Siobhan Fitzpatrick, Librarian, Royal Irish Academy, Prof. Liam Breatnach, MRIA, DIAS, School of Celtic Studies, Prof. Peter Kennedy, President of the Royal Irish Academy and Professor of Microelectronic Engineering, UCD, Mary Timoney and Neil Farry, Grace Farry, David Casey and John Coleman of Ballymote Heritage Group