Old Irish and Early Christian Ireland: A Basic Bibliography

By Charles D. Wright

Please note that the appearance of this material on-line does not detract from the author's rights to it. It may be copied and distributed freely, in whole or part, provided full credit is given to the author. In any event, this material should not be published in printed form without the express consent of the author.

The following bibliography was compiled by Charles D. Wright (cdwright@ux1.cso.uiuc.) and posted by him to the discussion list MEDTEXTL. on 4 August 1994. It has been cross-posted extensively, and we have taken the opportunity of giving it a permanent home at this site. Many thanks to Charles for this useful resource.

Lynn Nelson
26 November 1994

This file was downloaded from FTP server at the University of Kansas; converted into HTML 12-Feb-1998 ML;
additional information added [in this font] 10-Nov-2007 ML

• Bibliographies:
  • Comprehensive:
    • R. I. Best, Bibliography of Irish Philology and of Printed Irish Literature (Dublin, 1913).
    • R. I. Best, Bibliography of Irish Philology and Manuscript Literature: Publications 1913-1941 (Dublin, 1942).
    • Rolf Baumgarten, Bibliography of Irish Linguistics and Literature 1942-71(Dublin, 1986).
    • Risteárd de Hae, Clár Litridheacht na Nua-Ghaedhilge 1850-1936[Catalogue of Modern Irish Literature] 3 vols. (Dublin).
      • I: Na Leabhra [Books];
      • II: Filidheacht i dTréimhseacháin [Poetry in Periodicals];
      • III: Prósa [Prose]. Index of published prose and poetry; in Modern Irish.
    • Wilfrid Bonser, An Anglo-Saxon and Celtic Bibliography (450-1087), 2 vols. (Berkeley, 1957). Mainly on history and archaeology.
  • Serial:
    • The Celtic Studies Association of North America, A Celtic Studies Bibliography for 1983-1985 (Philadelphia, 1987).
    • "A List of Books, Articles etc. concerning the Various Aspects of the Celtic Languages, received at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth," in Studia Celtica (1966-- ).
    • Biblioteca Celtica: A Register of Publications Relating to Wales and the Celtic Peoples and Languages (Aberystwyth, 1910-- ).
    • T. W. Moody, ed., Irish Historiography, 1936-1970 (Dublin, 1971).
    • Joseph Lee, ed., Irish Historiography, 1970-1979 (Cork, 1981). Irish Historical Studies (1938ff).
    • G. R. Elton, ed., The Royal Historical Society: Annual Bibliography of British and Irish History (Hassocks, Sussex, and Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 1975-- ) [now available online]
    • "Irish Studies Theses" in Newsletter of the School of Celtic Studies (Dublin, Institute for Advanced Studies).
  • General:
    • Rachel Bromwich, Medieval Celtic Literature: A Select Bibliography (Toronto, 1974).
    • Harvard University Library, Widener Library Shelflist no. 25: Celtic Literatures (Cambridge, MA, 1970).
    • Morfydd E. Owen, "A Celtic Bibliography," in Glanville Price, Ireland and the Celtic Connection, The Princess Grace Irish Library Lectures 4 (Gerrards Cross, 1987).
    • School of Celtic Studies Fiftieth Anniversary Report 1940-1990 (Dublin, 1990), pp. 97-138: "The State of the Art: Personal Essays on Aspects of Celtic Studies."
  • Catalogues of Irish Manuscripts in Major Libraries:
    • Richard Hayes, ed., Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilization, 11 vols. (Boston, 1965). Includes references to microfilms at the National Library of Ireland, most of which are also at Harvard.
    • Standish Hayes O'Grady and Robin Flower, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum, 3 vols. (London, 1926-53). The second vol., by Flower, is a rich source of information on medieval Irish literature. The Index volume records incipits and subjects.
    • Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy, 28 fascicles and 2 index vols. (Dublin, 1926-70).
    • N. Ní Shéaghdha, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the National Library of Ireland (Dublin, 1961--).
    • Pádraig de Brún and Máire Herbert, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries (Cambridge, 1986).
    • For other libraries, see Pádraig Ó Fiannachta, Clár Lámhscríbhinní Gaeilge, 2 vols. (Dublin, 1978-80).
  • Ecclesiastical Literature:
    • James F. Kenney, Sources for the Early History of Ireland: Ecclesiastical, rev. ed. with addenda by Ludwig Bieler (New York, 1966). A monumental descriptive inventory of texts down to the Anglo-Norman invasion. A second volume on secular sources never appeared. Can be supplemented by the following:
    • Kathleen Hughes, Early Christian Ireland: Introduction to the Sources(Ithaca, NY, 1972).
    • Louis Gougaud, Modern Research with Special Reference to Early Irish Ecclesiastical History (Dublin, 1929).
    • Louis Gougaud, Christianity in Celtic Lands, trans. Maud Joynt (London, 1932).
    • John Ryan, Irish Monasticism: Origins and Early Development, rev. ed. with new Introduction and bibliography (Ithaca, NY, 1972).
    • Lisa M. Bitel, Isle of the Saints: Monastic Settlement and Christian Community in Early Ireland (Ithaca, 1990).
    • Harold Mytum, The Origins of Early Christian Ireland (London, 1992). Focus on archeology, with extensive bibliography.
    • Aubrey Gwynn, The Irish Church in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, ed. G. O'Brien (Dublin, 1992).
    • H. Löwe, ed., Die Iren und Europa im früheren Mittelalter, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1982).
    • Proinséas Ní Chatháin and Michael Richter, eds., Irland und Europa: die Kirche im Frühmittelalter (Stuttgart, 1984).
    • Proinséas Ní Chatháin and Michael Richter, eds., Irland und die Christenheit: Bibelstudien und Mission (Stuttgart, 1967).
    • Martin McNamara, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church (Dublin, 1976). Important addenda in reviews by David Dumville, Journal of Theological Studies, n.s. 27 (1976), 491-4; Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Éigse 16 (1976), 348-56.
    • F. E. Warren, The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church, 2nd. ed. with introductions and bibliography by Jane Stevenson (Woodbridge, 1981), pp. cv-cxxviii.
    • Michael Lapidge and Richard Sharpe, A Bibliography of Celtic-Latin Literature 400-1200 (Dublin, 1985).
    • J. F. Kelly, "A Catalogue of Early Medieval Hiberno-Latin Biblical Commentaries," Traditio 44 (1988), 537-71; 45 (1989), 393-434. Includes the commentaries identified by Bernhard Bischoff.
    • For influence in Anglo-Saxon England, C. Wright, "Hiberno-Latin Biblical Commentaries, Florilegia, and Homily Collections," in Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture: A Trial Version, ed. F. Biggs, et al. (Binghamton, 1990), pp. 87-123.
    • Charles Plummer, "A Tentative Catalogue of Irish Hagiography," in his Miscellanea Hagiographica Hibernica, Subsidia Hagiographica 15 (Brussels, 1925), pp. 171-285. The major collections are Plummer's:
      • Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, 2 vols. (Oxford).
      • Bethada Naem nErenn: Lives of Irish Saints, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1922).
      • Richard Sharpe, Medieval Irish Saints' Lives: An Introduction to the Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae (Oxford, 1991).
      • Dorothy Ann Bray, A List of Motifs in the Lives of the Early Irish Saints, Folklore Fellows Communications 252 (Helsinki,1992).
    • See also the following volumes of collected essays by Variorum Reprints:
      • Kathleen Hughes, Church and Society in Ireland, A.D. 400-1200, ed. David Dumville (London, 1987);
      • Ludwig Bieler, Ireland and the Culture of Early Medieval Europe, ed. Richard Sharpe (London, 1987);
      • Mario Esposito, Latin Learning in Mediaeval Ireland and Irish Books and Learning in Mediaeval Europe, ed. M. Lapidge (London, 1988 and 1990, respectively)
      • Fergus Kelly, A Guide to Early Irish Law (Dublin, 1988).
  • Folklore:
    • R. Th. Christiansen, Studies in Irish and Scandinavian Folktales(Copenhagen, 1959).
    • T. P. Cross, Motif-Index of Irish Literature, Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series 7 (Bloomington, 1952).
    • Seán Ó Súilleabháin, A Handbook of Irish Folklore (Dublin, 1952).
    • Sean Ó Súilleabháin and R. Christiansen, The Types of the Irish Folktale, Folklore Fellows Communications (Helsinki, 1967).
    • Dáithi Ó hOgáin, Myth, Legend, & Romance: An Encyclopedia of the Irish Folk Tradition (New York, 1991). Bibliography at pp. 429-35.
  • Grammars:
    • Holgar Pedersen, Vergleichende Grammatik der Keltischen Sprachen, 2 vols. (Gottingen, 1909-13).
    • Henry Lews and H. Pedersen, A Concise Comparative Celtic Grammar(Gottingen, 1974). Abridged and up-dated version of Pedersen's Vergleichende Grammatik.
    • Kenneth Jackson, Language and History in Early Britain: A Chronological Survey of the Brittonic Languages 1st to 12th c. A.D. (Edinburgh, 1953). On Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, but includes comparative material on primitive Irish.
    • Rudolf Thurneysen, A Grammar of Old Irish, rev. and enlarged ed. with supplement, trans. O. Bergin and D. A. Binchy (Dublin, 1946). The standard advanced grammar of OI.
    • John Strachan and O. Bergin, Old-Irish Paradigms and Selections from the Old-Irish Glosses (Dublin, 1949).
    • E. G. Quin, Old-Irish Workbook (Dublin, 1975).
    • R. Lehmann and W. P. Lehmann, An Introduction to Old Irish (New York, 1975).
    • G. Dottin, Manuel d'irlandais moyen, 2 vols. (Paris, 1913). Dated, but the only comprehensive grammar devoted specifically to Middle Irish. Vol. 2 is a reader, with selections mainly from the Leabhar Breac.
    • Strachan, John, "Contributions to the History of Middle Irish Declension," Transactions of the Philological Society, 1903-1906 (London, 1906), pp. 202-246.
    • Kenneth Jackson, ed., Aislinge Meic Con Glinne (Dublin, 1990). The grammatical appendix (pp. 77-140) is now the best thing available on Middle Irish.
    • McCone, Kim, The Early Irish Verb, Maynooth Monographs 1 (Maynooth, 1987).
  • Readers:
    • Julius Pokorny, A Historical Reader of Old Irish (Halle, 1923).
    • N. K. Chadwick, An Early Irish Reader (Cambridge, 1927). Mac Dathós Pig.
    • Rudolf Thurneysen, Old Irish Reader, trans. D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin (Dublin, 1949).
  • Dictionaries:
    • Dictionary of the Irish Language: Compact Edition (Dublin, 1983). Consolidates the fascicles of the Dictionary of the Irish Language and Contributions to a Dictionary of the Irish Language.

      For Modern Irish see:

    • P. S. Dinneen, An Irish-English Dictionary, Irish Texts Society (Dublin, 1904).
    • Neil MacAlpine and John Mackenzie, Gaelic-English and English Gaelic Dictionary (Glasgow, 1975). Formerly MacAlpinés Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary.
    • Niall Ó Dónaill, Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla (Dublin, 1977).
  • Irish Palaeography, Scribes, and Libraries:
    • Eugene O'Curry, Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History (Dublin, 1861).
    • W. M. Lindsay, Early Irish Minuscule Script (Oxford, 1910).
    • Ludwig Bieler, "The Irish Book of Hymns: A Palaeographical Study," Scriptorium 2 (1948), 177-94.
    • Ludwig Bieler, "Insular Palaeography: Present State and Problems," Scriptorium 3 (1949), 267-94.
    • F. J. Byrne, A Thousand Years of Irish Script (Oxford, 1979).
    • Timothy O'Neill, The Irish Hand (Mountrath, 1984).
    • For a list of facsimiles of Irish manuscripts, see L. Boyle, Medieval Latin Palaeography: A Bibliographical Introduction (Toronto, 1984), pp. 100-4.
    • Charles Plummer, "On the Colophons and Marginalia of Irish Scribes," Proceedings of the British Academy 12 (1926), 11-44.
    • Louis Gougaud, "Les Scribes monastiques d'Irlande au travail," Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique 27 (1931), 293-306.
    • Louis Gougaud, "The Remnants of Ancient Irish Monastic Libraries," Féil-Sgríbhinn Eóin Mhic Néill, ed. J. Ryan (Dublin, 1940), 319-44.
    • Kathleen Hughes, "The Distribution of Irish Scriptoria and Centres of Learning from 730 to 1111," in Studies in the Early British Church, ed. N. K. Chadwick (Cambridge, 1958), 243-72.
    • Bernhard Bischoff, "Irische Schreiber im Karolingerreich," in his Mittelalterliche Studien: Ausgewählte Aufsätze zur Schriftkunde und Literaturgeschichte (Stuttgart, 1966-81) III, 39-54.
  • Collections of Texts (starred items include translations):
    • Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, 2 vols. (London, 1903). The major collection of Old Irish texts. Vol. 1 includes the Wurzburg and Milan glosses and other biblical glosses; vol. 2 includes non-biblical glosses and miscellaneous verse and prose.
    • *Standish Hayes O'Grady, Silva Gadelica (London, 1892).
    • *Whitley Stokes and Ernst Windisch, Irische Texte, 4 vols. (Leipzig, 1880-1909).
    • J. Fraser, et al., ed., Irish Texts, 5 vols. (London, 1931-4).
    • O. J. Bergin, et al., ed. Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts, 5 vols. (Halle, 1907-13).
    • Kuno Meyer, "Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften," series in Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 1-10.
    • *Todd Lecture Series
    • *Anecdota Oxoniensia, Mediaeval and Modern Series Medieval and Modern Irish Series
    • *Irish Texts Society: The Book of Leinster, ed. R. I. Best and M. A. O'Brien (Dublin, ).
    • *Gerard Murphy, Early Irish Lyrics: Eighth to Twelfth Century (Oxford, 1956).
    • *O. Bergin, Irish Bardic Poetry (Dublin, 1972).
    • Henry Bradshaw Society (liturgical texts)
    • *Scriptores Latini Hiberniae: Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, 108B-D: Scriptores Hiberniae Minores
  • Collections of Translations:
    • Kenneth Jackson, A Celtic Miscellany (New York, 1971). Penguin pb.
    • D. H. Greene, An Anthology of Irish Literature, 2 vols. (New York, 1954).
    • James Carney, Medieval Irish Lyrics (Berkeley, 1967).
    • R. Lehmann, Early Irish Verse (Austin, TX, 1982).
    • D. Greene and F. O'Connor, A Golden Treasury of Irish Poetry, A.D. 600-1200(London, 1967).
    • T. P. Cross and C. Slover, Ancient Irish Tales, with rev. bibliography by C. W. Dunn (Totowa, NJ, 1969).
    • Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (New York, 1981). Penguin pb.
    • D. G. Calder, et al., Sources and Analogues of Old English Poetry II: The Major Germanic and Celtic Texts in Translation (Woodbridge, 1983).
  • General Studies of Old Irish Literature and Mythology:
    • Eugene O'Curry, On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, 2 vols. (Dublin, 1873).
    • H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology, trans. with additional notes by R. I. Best (Dublin, 1903).
    • R. Thurneysen, Die irischen Helden- und Königsage bis zum siebzehnten Jahrhundert (Halle, 1921). The standard scholarly treatment.
    • Eleanor Hull, A Textbook of Irish Literature.
    • T. F. O'Rahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology (Dublin, 1946).
    • Douglas Hyde, A Literary History of Ireland, new ed. revised by Brian Ó Cuív (London, 1967).
    • Robin Flower, The Irish Tradition (Oxford, 1947).
    • Myles Dillon, Early Irish Literature (Chicago, 1948).
    • James Carney, Studies in Irish Literature and History (Dublin, 1955).
    • Brian Ó Cuív, ed., Seven Centuries of Irish Learning 1000-1700 (Dublin, 1961).
    • A. Rees and B. Rees, Celtic Heritage: Ancient Tradition in Ireland and Wales (London, 1961).
    • James Carney, ed., Early Irish Poetry (Cork, 1965).
    • Josef Szövérffy, Irisches Erzählgut im Abendland (Berlin, 1957).
    • P. L. Henry, The Early English and Celtic Lyric (London, 1966).
    • Alan Bruford, Gaelic Folk-Tales and Mediaeval Romances (Dublin, 1969).
    • Mac Cana, Proinsias, Celtic Mythology (London, 1970).
    • Mac Cana, Proinsias, The Learned Tales of Medieval Ireland (Dublin, 1980).
    • Mac Cana, Proinsias, Branwen Daughter of Llyr: A Study in the Irish Affinities and of the Compilation of the Second Branch of the Mabinogi (Cardiff, 1958).
    • Stephen Tranter and Hildegard Tristram, ed. Early Irish Literature: Media and Communication, ScriptOralia 10 (Tubingen, 1989).
    • Kim McCone, Pagan Past and Christian Present in Early Irish Literature(Maynooth, 1990).
    • J. E. Caerwyn Williams, The Irish Literary Tradition, trans. P. Ford (Cardiff, 1992).
    • Charles D. Wright, The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature(Cambridge, 1993).
  • Versification:
    • Kuno Meyer, A Primer of Irish Metrics (Dublin, 1909).
    • Gerard Murphy, Early Irish Metrics (Dublin, 1961).
    • James Travis, Early Celtic Versecraft: Origins, Development, Diffusion(Ithaca, 1973).
  • Journals:
    • Archiv für celtische Lexicographie 1-3 (Halle, 1898-1907)
    • Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 1836-- )
    • Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie (Halle, 1896-- )
    • Ériu (Dublin, 1904-- )
    • Revue celtique 1-55 (Paris, 1870-1934)
    • Études celtiques (Paris, 1936-- )
    • Celtica (Dublin, 1946-- )
    • Studia Celtica (Cardiff, 1966-- )
    • Éigse (Dublin, 1939-- )
    • Éire/Ireland
    • Lochlainn (abandoned after a few volumes).
    • Journal of Celtic Studies
    • Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
    • Béaloideas (Dublin, 1927-- ). Devoted to Irish folklore.
    • Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies
    • Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium
    • Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies [now Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies]
    • Peritia
    • Newsletter of the School of Celtic Studies
    • For other journals see Dáithi Ó hOgáin, Myth, Legend & Romance (1991), pp. 436-7.