ferdomnacho orés. There were two famous scribes of this name connected with Armagh, one of whom died a.d. 727, the other a.d. 845. That the scribe of the Book of Armagh was the latter has been ingeniously proved by Bishop Graves[1] from the following half-erased entry in a semi-Greek character, which occurs in fo. 52 b:
.….ακh hυνκ λ..
.. μ…ε δικταντε
…βακh · hηρηδη πατ
ρικιι · ϲκριπϲιτ—
As the only comarbe of Patrick whose name ended in ‑bach was Torbach Bishop Graves restored the entry thus:
f domnach · hvnc · lib
e rvm · : : : e dictante
r torbach · herede · pat
ricii · scripsit
As Torbach held the primacy for only one year and died in 808, the codex, or at least this part of it, must have been written either in 807 or 808. That the entry refers to the former year is proved by the following entry on fo. 36a:
εxπλικιτ · αευανγοε
λιωn · κατα mat
thvm · ϲκρiπτvm
ατκnive φitvm ·
in φηρια · matthi
= explicit euangelion κατὰ Mattheum scriptum atque finitum in feria Matthei. For Torbach died on the 16th of July and this entry was made on the 26th of September, the Feast of S. Matthew, The marginal entries have in part been mutilated by the cutting of the margins.
The Book of Armagh contains a transcript of older documents. A full description of the contents will be found in the edition by W. S. of the Tripartite Life of Patrick, xci sq. The following portions have been published in the present work:
I. [2]The Irish names in Muirchu Maccu Machthéni’s memoirs of S. Patrick (fol. 2a1–fo. 9a2). This Muirchu professes to write in obedience to the command of Bishop Aed of Sletty, † 698. The importance of these notes for the language of the time has been pointed out by Thurneysen[3]. The following points may be noted:
Long ē has not yet become ía: Fēcc = Fíacc, Cērrigi = Cíarraigi. Of ō there is an example in the Latinised Coolennorum. Unaccented ĕ and ŏ between non-palatal consonants are preserved: Clocher = clochar, Findubrec, Lucetmail, Ulod, Lothroch[4]. Oi
- ↑ Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, iii. 316–324.
- ↑ infra pp. 259–262.
- ↑ Celt. Zeitschr. i. 347 sq.
- ↑ There is a variation between a and o in Dubthach and Dubthoch; cf. Echach by Echoch, Ann. Ul. 817. In Latinised form Ulathorum appears by Ulothorum; according to Thurneysen, this is perhaps due to the scribe. Unaccented a appears as o in moccu Echach.
