O'Gara link with the
recording of Irish History
O'Gara link with the
recording of Irish History
by Maura O'Gara-O'Riordan
See Photos of Clan visit to Trinity College exhibit
Members of the O’Gara Clan visited a unique exhibition of the original seventeenth century manuscripts referred to as the Annals of the Four Masters which were on display in the Long Room in Trinity College Dublin from 9 October 2007 to 6 January 2008. The occasion was to celebrate the fact that the patron of the Annals was Fearghal O’Gara, a member of the main line of the O’Gara sept of Co. Sligo. The majority of the O’Gara group are believed to have a blood relationship with Fearghal, some perhaps being direct descendants.
The manuscripts of the Annals of the Four Masters which were written in the Irish language, are said to be one of the most celebrated works in Irish history. They were compiled between 1632 and 1636 by a team of scribes under the direction of a Franciscan brother, Mícheál Ó Cléirigh. It has been suggested that the scribes prepared two sets of manuscripts each comprising two volumes i.e. a total of four unbound large bundles of sheets of paper. The majority of historians believe that one set was made for the patron, Fearghal O’Gara and the second set for the Franciscan college in Louvain, with the intention of having it printed there. The volumes now bound are labeled the O’Gara set and the Louvain set. During the three hundred and seventy years since their completion, the volumes got separated and each volume has a history of its own. Even though much research has been carried out on the whereabouts of some of the volumes during the earlier centuries considerable gaps remain. According to Dr. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, volume one of the O’Gara set was in the hands of another Co. Sligo man, the scholar Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in 1649. Mac Fhirbhisigh referred to the manuscript as the History Book of Fearghal Ó Gadhra (Leabhar Airision Fhearghail Uí Ghadhra). There is proof that three of the volumes spent many years away from this country. Dr. Nollaig Ó Muraíle lecturer in the Irish Department NUIG has written a number of articles on the whereabouts of the various volumes since their completion. His most recent article The manuscripts of the Annals of the Four Masters since 1636 appears in ‘Writing Irish History: The Four Masters and their World’. The book is a special publication to commemorate the exhibition in TCD which brought all the volumes of the annals under the one roof for the first time since 1636.
Br. Mícheál Ó Cléirigh penned a lengthy dedication to the Sligo patron, the opening sentence reads as follows: ‘I beseech God to bestow every happiness that may redound to the welfare of his body and soul, upon Fearghal Ó Gadhra, Lord of Magh Uí-Ghadhra and Cuil O-bhFinn one of the two knights of Parliament who were elected from the county of Sligeach to Ath-cliath this year of the age of Christ, 1634.’
Fearghal Ó Gadhra (O’Gara), was the eldest surviving son of Tadgh O’Gara and Una O’Hara (of the O’Hara family of Annaghmore or Templehouse, County Sligo). Fearghal was born in 1596. His father Tadgh died in 1598 leaving Fearghal as the principal heir to his grandfather Iriel (Oliver) O’Gara who was acknowledged as the Chief of the O’Gara sept and owner of at least thirty townlands in the half barony of Coolavin. When Fearghal sponsored the manuscripts in the 1630s it is recorded that he was the biggest Gaelic landowner in Co. Sligo. He was living in Coppenagh on the shores of Lough Gara in south Sligo during those years and had the lands at Moygara rented to tenants. Moygara Castle had been the principal residence of the O’Garas, but after it was burnt in 1581 it is not known whether the main O’Gara family returned to live there or not. All their lands were confiscated following the wars of the 1650s.
The manuscripts may already have been returned to their library homes, volume one of the O’Gara set was returned to Ireland in 1883 and was presented to the library of the Royal Irish Academy, while volume two will remain in the library of Trinity College where it has been since 1766. Volume one of the Louvain set is held in Franciscan manuscript section of University College Dublin Archives since 2000 with the second volume (now bound as two books) returning to the library of the Royal Irish Academy where it was deposited in 1831 on its return from England.
Dr. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, commenting on Fearghal O’Gara’s historical role as sponsor of the Annals of the Four Masters, states ‘without that patronage, the work would almost certainly not have been compiled in the first place’.