McGill Library
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Tri biorghaoithe an bháis
Three shafts of death
File
1 volume (15-104, 104-293 pages) : paper
Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, Geoffrey Keating was educated abroad, where he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood. Returning to Ireland some time after 1621, he gained fame as a popular preacher and writer. His most important work was a history of Ireland up to the time of the English invasion, Foras Feasa ar Eirinn (1629). His Tri Bioghaoithe an Bhais ("Three shafts of Death"), a theological treatise on the conduct of life in relation to the advent of death, contains many anecdotes on Irish history and fragments of Irish verse. Like Keating's other works, it circulated widely in manuscript, and was printed in 1890.
Number 1 in the library of Edward Murphy, Montreal. Acquired by the McGill Library in 1922.
Manuscript of Geoffrey Keating's devotional work Tri biorghaoithe an bháis (Three shafts of death) in Irish, copied around 1650. Wanting pages 1-15. The manuscript is written on laid paper with watermarks (see for example pages 138-139). The leaves are bound in two pieces of leather with leather thongs, no spine.
See the description in: Pettigrew, Thomas Joseph, 1791-1865. Bibliotheca Sussexiana : a descriptive catalogue, accompanied by historical and biographical notices, of the manuscripts and printed books contained in the library of His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex in Kensington Palace / by Thomas Joseph Pettigrew. London: Longman & Co., 1827-1839, pages 265-266 (cclxv-cclxvi).
Clipping from printed catalogue pasted into inside cover: "This work was evidently written by different persons, as the hand-writing will easily determine. It is a good specimen of Irish penmanship of the day. Many quotations from Scripture are given, with chapter verse. It is divided into three parts. That on page 108 begins with a verse from the 129th Psalm, in Latin, 'De profundis clamavi ad te Domini' (Out of the depths have I cried to thee, O Lord). The leather cover and fastenings to the back are curious. Copied from the original about A.D. 1650."
Armorial bookplate of Edward Murphy.