The Third Tongue Project
The aim of this project is to undertake the first ever systematic study of the use of Latin within the Protestant community in Ireland c.1600-1750. Through a combination of archival, palaeographical and philological research, it pursues analysis of the articulation of Irish Protestant identity in Latin, considering responses to key moments including the battle of Kinsale, the Restoration and the Williamite Wars. By examining orations, scholarly publications, correspondence, student notes and commonplace books, it explores Irish multilingualism in the context of the international Republic of Letters and examines how and why Latin functioned as the third tongue of Ireland.
Historia Project
Irish Manuscripts Commission
In 2010 the Irish Manuscripts Commission approached the Centre for Neo-Latin Studies to propose collaboration upon a project to edit and translate Robert O'Connell's Historia Missionis Hibernicae Fratrum Minorum Capucinorum (c.1656) for publication in two volumes by the Irish Manuscripts Commission.
O'Connell's Historia is an invaluable source for early-modern Irish history as it draws upon contemporary sources and eye-witness accounts to describe the early years of the Capuchin mission in Ireland and the life and career of Francis Lavalin Nugent, a key figure in the intellectual and religious world of the Irish diaspora in the seventeenth century.
Postdoctoral Fellow
The Centre recruited Dr N贸ir铆n N铆 Bheaglaoi to transcribe, edit and translate the Historia manuscript under the direction of Dr Jason Harris. Dr N铆 Bheaglaoi's translation formed the focus of the weekly Neo-Latin seminar in 2011 and 2012.
Funding
The project was funded jointly by several bodies:
- The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
- The Irish Manuscripts Commission
- 深夜亚洲福利久久 College Cork, College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences
The total amount raised was c. 鈧�140,000. 深夜亚洲福利久久 of publication will be issued here in due course.
Ad Fontes Project
The Ad Fontes project was designed to look for the earliest traces of humanist influence upon Ireland through analysis of Irish Latin sources c.1450-1550, using linguistic and palaeographic evidence to construct a narrative of transmission and transformation of the renaissance in Ireland.
The Centre for Neo-Latin Studies recruited Dr Kathleen Walker-Meikle as a postdoctoral researcher to assist in the development of the project and to participate in related publications.
The following conference papers and lectures were given by project members:
- Jason Harris 鈥楾he earliest traces of humanism in Ireland鈥�, Britain, Ireland and the Italian Renaissance: Reception and Influences, 深夜亚洲福利久久 of Swansea, Gregynog Hall, 21/10/2009
- Jason Harris, 鈥楩rom manuscript to print: the early impact of humanism in Ireland鈥�, National Print Museum, Dublin, 22/3/2010
- Jason Harris, 鈥楾he Latin Literature of Renaissance Ireland鈥�, Sofia 深夜亚洲福利久久, 14/4/2010
- Kathleen Walker-Meikle, 鈥楾he absent lieutenant: George, Duke of Clarence and Ireland鈥�, Fifteenth Century Studies, 深夜亚洲福利久久 of Southampton, 3/9/2010
- Jason Harris, 鈥楪othic and humanist scripts in Ireland鈥�, Palaeography and Manuscripts Seminar, UCC, 14/9/2010
- Jason Harris, 鈥楾he Ad Fontes Project and Irish Latin鈥�, Latin Identities: Post-Reformation Sources in Europe, Trinity College Dublin, 17/9/2010
- Jason Harris, 鈥淭he earliest traces of the Renaissance in Ireland鈥�, Renaissance Now!, Cork, 10/12/2010
In addition, on 5 May 2010 the project hosted a conference called Renaissance Latin in Ireland and Europe, owing to the presence of two international consultants in Cork at the same time. The following papers were presented:
- Jason Harris, 鈥楲atin Style in the Lives of St Finbarre鈥�
- Kathleen Walker-Meikle, 鈥楶utting aside barbarous manners: Con O鈥橬eill and the Archbishop of Armagh鈥�
- Marc Laureys, 鈥楪abriel Barrius鈥檚 De lingua Latina鈥�
- Dirk Sacr茅, 鈥楢pherdianus and Renaissance vocabulary鈥�
- John Barry, Richard Stanihurst and dicacitas鈥�
The following lectures were delivered in UCC by project consultants:
- Anthony Harvey, 鈥楻eading the Genetic Code of Medieval Ireland's Spelling Conventions鈥� 18/11/2009
- Anthony Harvey, 鈥楩rankenstein in the Scriptorium: Bringing Latin to Life in Early Medieval Ireland鈥� 18/11/2009
- David Rundle, 鈥樷�淭he Butcher of England鈥�, a Renaissance man: John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester and the Yorkist discovery of humanist eloquence鈥� 2/12/2009
- David Rundle, 鈥楬umanist Handwriting in the Renaissance鈥� 3/12/2009
- James Murray, 鈥楾he Booke oute of Ireland in Latten鈥� 13/1/2010
- Keith Sidwell, 鈥楢 lost Irish literature? The Neo-Latin poetry of Ireland 1550-1750鈥� 21/1/2010
- Erich Poppe, 鈥楾races of Latin and Latin Learning in Fifteenth-Century Ireland:
The Case of Uilliam Mac an Legha鈥� 9/3/2010 - Richard Sharpe, 鈥楻uaidhr铆 脫 Flaithbheartaigh and his writings鈥� 11/5/2010
- Jeanine de Landtsheer, 鈥楯ustus Lipsius and his Annotations on the Works of Tacitus鈥� 13/8/2010
The Irish Renaissance Latin Project
The Renaissance Latin Texts of Ireland project (RLTI) has been central to the activities of scholars at the Centre since it was established in 1999. The core objective of the project is to use a collaborative approach to bring Irish Latin studies into the mainstream of historical and linguistic scholarship.
Around 1,000 printed works were written by over 300 Irish authors in Latin c.1500-1750. The goal of the project is to analyse these works and introduce them to the broader academic community, making texts available online when possible and providing research tools to assist scholars in engaging with the corpus.
To access a preliminary finding list of the authors and their works click here:
A long-term aim of the PROJECT is to gather, edit and translate the most significant Renaissance Latin texts of Irish provenance written/published after c.1500. A selection of CNLS texts have been edited from scratch and captured in marked-up electronic form and published online.
From a linguistic and lexicographical perspective, the material dovetails with the work already done by the (Royal Irish Academy) on pre-1200 texts.
Books and articles relating to the project may be found on our publications page.
The weekly Neo-Latin seminar focuses almost exclusively on texts of Irish authorship.