McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Edward Murphy Irish Manuscripts Collection
Collection
4 volumes
The four manuscripts were part of the private library of Edward Murphy and came to the McGill Library in 1922. The manuscripts originally had individual library shelfmarks (MSG 88, MSG 121, MSG 122, MSG 440).
The collection consists of four early Irish manuscripts assembled by the Montreal collector Edward Murphy as part of his private library. The manuscripts include a copy of The Midnight Court (Cúirt an mheán oíche) by Brian Merriman, the Life of St. Patrick by John Chambers, Tri Biorghaoithe an Bhais (Three shafts of death) by Geoffrey Keating, and a fragment of an Irish vocabulary (Nuadhfoclóir bogcruaideach).
There was one other Irish manuscript owned by Edward Murphy whose present location is unknown. It is described in his catalogue:
"2. – IRISH MS. PRAYER BOOK. The penmanship and binding are good, and the style of both is indicative of its age. This is a curious and interesting book. It contains, among other things, the Calendar of Saint's days, Feast, Fasts, &c., Prayers at Mass, the Seven Penitential Psalms, Psalter of Jesus, Prayers for Confession and Communion, the Litanies, Vespers and other Devotions. Written about A.D. 1680."
Caxton Celebration, Montreal, June, 1877: manuscripts and printed books in the Irish language and character and fac-similes of the national manuscripts of Ireland, exhibited by Mr. Edward Murphy of Montreal. Montreal: J. Starke, 1877.