Book of Ballymote

Book of Ballymote
Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12
Medieval manuscript leaf of discoloured parchment with several holes, bearing 2 columns of script in black ink, arranged in 2 columns, each of about 50 lines. The 1st 13 lines of column 1 are indented to fit an enlarged decorative initial consisting of knotwork interlace, with parts terminating in dogs’ heads, all drawn in brown ink & tinted with washes in red, green, tan, & shocking pink.
Book of Ballymote, f. 8r
Also known asLeabhar Bhaile an Mhóta
TypeMiscellany
Date1390–1391
Place of originBallymote
Language(s)Middle Irish, with some Latin
Scribe(s)Solamh Ó Droma, Roibéard Mac Síthigh, Maghnus Ó Duibheannáin
PatronTomaltagh McDonagh
MaterialParchment
Size40 × 26 cm
FormatFolio
ConditionImperfect
ScriptIrish minuscule
ContentsGenealogy, history, hagiography, topography
Illumination(s)Interlace initials, mainly zoomorphic, tinted with coloured washes[1]
Ballymote is located in island of Ireland
Ballymote
Ballymote
Location of Ballymote in Ireland

The Book of Ballymote (Irish: Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta, RIA MS 23 P 12, 275 foll.), was written in 1390 or 1391 in or near the town of Ballymote, now in County Sligo, but then in the tuath of Corann.

According to David Sellar who was the Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland, the Book of Ballymote was written from between 1384 and 1405.[2] According to Robert Anthony Welch, it was compiled in the late 14th century.[3]

  1. ^ Royal Irish Academy. "MS 23 P 12 (The Book of Ballymote)". Meamram Páipéar Ríomhaire / Irish Script on Screen. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  2. ^ Sellar, W.D.H. (October 1966). "The Origins and Ancestry of Somerled". The Scottish Historical Review. 45 (140): 125. JSTOR 25528658.
  3. ^ Welch, Robert (2000). The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. Oxford University Press. p. 33. ISBN 9780192800800.