mostly on historical topics, either directly or indirectly
inspired by the Old Testament. Within this biblico-
historical unit is the only complete copy of Saltair na
Rann(The Psalter of Verses), a verse account of Biblical
history divided into 150 sections and consisting of 7,788
lines. This important work has been dated to approxi-
mately 988. It has been argued, but not widely accepted,
that its author was Airbertach mac Cosse. Also within
this unit is the tract known as Sex Aetates Mundi, which
treats of various topics of world history in the frame-
work of the six periods of time from Adam to the end
of the world. The unit ends with four poems generally
attributed to Airbertach mac Cosse. Among the miscel-
laneous contents of the rest of this section of Rawlinson
B 502 is a copy of Amra Choluim Chille(The Eulogy
of Colum Cille), attributed to a sixth-century poet,
Dallán Forgaill. The canonical text of the latter is writ-
ten in majuscule letters and is accompanied by a wealth
of glosses and commentary that are in minuscule script.
There are also important collections of genealogies.
These include secular genealogies that are arranged
with a Leinster dynasty bias and genealogies of Irish
saints. There are a number of historical and literary
texts in prose and verse also reflecting a special interest
in Leinster. Among the prose tales are Esnada Tige
Buchet(The Melodies of Buchet’s House), Orgain
Denna Ríg(The Destruction of Dinn Ríg), Gein Bran-
duib maic Echach ocus Áedáin maic Gabráin(The Birth
of Brandub mac Echach and Áedán mac Gabráin), and
Orgun Trí Mac nDiarmata meic Cerbaill(The Slaying
of the Three Sons of Diarmait mac Cerbaill). The manu-
script also contains the earliest extant copies of law
tracts, namely Gúbretha Caratniad(The False Judg-
ments of Caratnia), a text concerned with some excep-
tions to basic principles of Irish law, and Cóic Conara
Fugill(The Five Paths of Judgment), a text on proce-
dure. The format of the law tracts is main text with
gloss and commentary. In the case of Gúbretha Carat-
niad, the main text is in larger letters and the glosses
and commentary are in minuscule. The text and glosses
ofCóic Conara Fugillare all in minuscule.
Paper Leaves
The paper leaves belong to the seventeenth century.
Those foliated as folios thirteen through eighteen and
ninety through 103 contain copies of various items
relating to Irish history, mostly in Latin. According to
Ó Cuív, it can be argued that the inclusion of the paper
leaves implied an intention on the part of Sir James
Ware to record in the bound volume, in a continuing
project, copies of documents relating to Irish history.
The large number of blank leaves after folio 103
implies that he abandoned the project.
CAOIMHÍN BREATNACH
References and Further Reading
Breatnach, Caoimhín. “Rawlinson B 502, Lebar Glinne Dá
Locha and Saltair na Rann.” Éigse30 (1997): 109
−132.
. “Manuscript Sources and Methodology: Rawlinson B
502 and Lebar Glinne Dá Locha.” Celtica24 (2003): 40
−54.
Ó Cuív, Brian. Catalogue of the Irish Language Manuscripts in
the Bodleian Library at Oxford and Oxford College Libraries.
2 vols: Part 1
Descriptions. Dublin, 2001; Part 2
Plates
and Indexes. Dublin: 2003.
Ó Néill, Pádraig. “Airbertach mac Cosse’s Poem on the Psalter.”
Éigse17 (1977
−1979): 19
−46.
Ó Riain, Pádraig. “The Book of Glendalough or Rawlinson B
502.” Éigse18 (1981): 161
−176.
. “Rawlinson B 502 alias Lebar Glinne Dá Locha: A
Restatement of the Case.” Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie
51 (1999): 130
−147.
See alsoAnnals and Chronicles; Manuscript
Illumination; Scriptoria
RECORDS, ADMINISTRATIVE
No administrative records survive from any of the
native lordships of medieval Ireland. The only records
that do survive come from the English lordship of
Ireland, which was administered partly from England
and partly from within the lordship itself. This system
of dual control produced three distinct but related cat-
egories of administrative records: records created by
the Irish administration that remained in Ireland;
records created by the Irish administration that were
sent to England for administrative reasons and retained
there; and records of the English administration relat-
ing to Ireland that were produced in England and kept
there.
Irish Administrative Records
as Originally Produced
The main constituent parts of the Irish administrative
machinery to produce and keep records were the Irish
chancery and the Irish (or Dublin) exchequer. Both
were modeled on the corresponding English institu-
tions and produced some of the same record series.
The English chancery produced and kept multiple
series of rolls on which were recorded (in slightly
abbreviated form) some of the voluminous writs and
other documents issued by chancery in the king’s
name. Each roll took the form of multiple individual
membranes of parchment written on both sides and
sewn together, with the bottom of one membrane
attached to the top of the next. The earliest material
was on the inside or top of the roll and the latest on
the outside or bottom in roughly chronological order.
In most series of rolls there was a separate roll for each
regnal year. The Irish chancery seems to have followed
RAWLINSON B 502