Transcript of the Book of Ballymote - Descendants of Ernán

[pdonelan]

Hi,
Thank you to Mike and David for the invitation to join the Dal Cuinn forum. I have been "lurking" on the forum for some time, as it has taken me quite a while to absorb all the information and get myself up to speed.
First a little introduction. As a co-administrator of the FTDNA Donnellan Y-DNA project, my main interests are the three groupings we have.
a) Descendants of the Ballydonnellan family and related (descendants of Dómhnalláin b. 880 d. 946, from whom the surname was derived). This branch has the typical DNA: DF104>DF105>A18726>A259>A260>FGC5939>FTT173>FT103653>FTA12467>FTA12769>FTB75571
b) Members with ancestry from County Longford. These all have the "Donlon" spelling, and the "ZZ87" SNP, indicating Ui Neill descent. This branch has the typical DNA: DF104>DF105>ZZ87>FTC610>BY93031>FT200220>FTB63556>FTB63923
c) Miscellaneous. The only Big-Y test in this group is my own, which has the BY198 SNP. My DNA is as follows: DF104>DF105>A18726>BY198>BY20835>BY20834>Y36587>FTA56326
My question relates to my own DNA and SNP BY198, which has been associated with the descendants of Ernán. In the section of this site on the transcript of the Book of Ballymote, the descendants of Ernán are given in the following section:
From {89bb}
5.2.2) Do Cloind Duach galaich sisan
Numbers 892-905
To {89ba}
Number 906
My question is, has anyone ever translated this into English or into family tree form?
If not, then can anyone explain the abbreviations used so that I can have a stab at making my own translation (using my Leaving Cert Irish from 54 years ago)?
Thank you

[Webmaster]

Welcome!

m. or mc. = macc = literal "son of"
.i. = id est = "that is"
.h. = hoc nomen = " by name" (possibly. it works at least)

So,

892. Errnin mc. Duach galaig, tri mc. lais .i. Baitin & Fergus cnoc & Scandal.
893. Sil Baetin dano .i. .h. Baeitin mc. Duach galaig mc. Briain mc. Echach Muidhmhedon.

Is something like

892. Ernán son of Dau Galach, had (lais - not the exact translation, but probably the best in this case) three sons, that is, Báetán and Fergus Cnoc and Scandal.
893. The descendants of Báetán (Síl Báetáin) also (dano), that is, by name Báetán son of Dau Galach son of Brión son of Eóchád Muigmedón.

I use the names normalized to Old Irish as best as I can. eDIL is also very helpful: https://dil.ie/. Typically the structure of the stanzas is either a man's personal name followed by a list of his sons, or a cland name followed by its pedigree back to its progenitor.

As you can see, the genealogy for Ernán's descendants is fairly extensive; especially for a branch that is not in the chieftain line. This is very unusual.

FYI, there is a dispute about the origin of R1b-BY198. The Y-DNA data gives strong evidence that it is likely Ernán. Other's believe it to be:

123. Fiacha sraiftine atiad a mc. .i. Muiredach tirech a quo in rigraidh & Domnall sen O Maine Chonnacht & Ferghus & Eochu & Feradhach a quo .H. Crimthannan.

And that R1b-BY198 are the Uí Maini. See viewtopic.php?t=510.

I put together the following a couple of years ago. I hope this helps.

[pdonelan]

Thank you, that is very helpful. After posting my question I found the following website that gives quite comprehensive information on reading Irish manuscripts.
https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Show:Tionscadal_na_Nod
Using that I made a stab at doing my own translation, and got as far as the 6 sons of Lorcan. However, I had low confidence in my result.
I was confused at line 903 "Seacht mc. la Lorcan . . . ." Although it says seven (seacht), it only lists six sons.
The word "dano" frequently appears. Is that to be translated as "also"?
It is a pity it stopped where it did, as if it continued on for a few more generations we might see names like Egan, etc., appearing, from whom the surnames were taken. The name "Lorcan" appears to early to be the man from whom the surname "Larkin" was derived.

[Webmaster]

pdonelan,

I was going to give you that link, but you beat me to it. And yes, sometimes you cannot synchronize the number of sons given with the number of names listed. I just skip over dano and la as being effectively extraneous. And I understand your lament, but the extent of the genealogy for the descendants of Ernán is so unusual as to be utterly amazing. It is my SPECULATION this was done because the old Irish scribes thought that possibly his line would replace that of his brother Eógan Sríab; who MAY have usurped Ernán's place as chieftain of the Uí Briúin.

It is also POSSIBLE that the genealogy was truncated at a later date when many of the R1b-BY198 families were assigned as Uí Maini descendants. It is completely unclear as to why and when this occurred. See below, but if Ernán was a noted scholar, then it would explain why some of his surmised descendants had families also noted for their scholarship, like the Mac Áeducáin.

Also, I will ask Tim McEvoy to make a post about research he has done in the past year where some 19th century AD scholars think that Ernán MAY have been the author/compiler of the lost Cín Dromma Snechtaí, which is only known by its name and subject matter in some preserved manuscripts. It is reputed to be the first recorded early genealogies and histories of Ireland. Sadly, there is no known extant copy, but it is reputed to be the source for later genealogies and histories.

[tamcevoy]

See attached photo of Duach Galach's descendants with his sons Monach and Ernain. Of Monach's descendants there is a note stating that St. Ciran could have been the author of Dromsneachta. (see Colin Keegan's attempt to trace the line through Ernan)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cín_Dromma_Snechtai.

Researching the book further I came across this quote stating that Ernain, s, of Duach, an Ollav (interesting that BY198 is also filled with names associated with them) had collected genealogies into this book: 'in the Book of Ballymote and in the Book of Lecan, frequent reference is made to an ancient book now lost called the Cin or Codex of Drom-sneachta. This book, or a copy of it, existed down to the beginning of the seventeenth century, for Keating quotes from it in his history, and remarks at the same time, "and it was before the coming of Patrick to Ireland the author of that book existed."[1] This evidence of Keating might be brushed aside as an exaggeration did it stand alone, but it does not, for in a partially effaced memorandum in the Book of Leinster, transcribed from older books about the year 1150, we read: "[Ernin, son of][Pg 71] Duach,[2] son of the king of Connacht, an ollav and a prophet and a professor in history and a professor in wisdom; it was he that collected the genealogies and histories of the men of Erin into one, and that is the Cin Droma-sneachta.
Eugene O'Curry in a lecture on "the Lost Books of Ancient Erinn" dealt at length with the composition of the Book of Drumsnat : Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History, 13 seq. A"partially effaced memorandum" in the Book of Leinster, 230b,led him to affirm that Eirnin mac Duach, son of the King of Connacht, was responsible for collecting the "Genealogies and Histories of the men of Eirinn in one book, that is Cin Droma Snechta"
I am not sure where Durning got his information from, I am going to look him up.

[Webmaster]

Thanks beaucoup, Tim!

One note on the listed three sons of Dau Galach is that while Ernán seems to be well attested in various sources, I have not seen Monach (probably Máenach) attested as a son of Dau Galach anywhere else except that genealogy table Tim posted. There is a Máenach listed as the father of Murchád, the progenitor of the Uí Briúin Seóla, Muntar Murcháda, but he lived ~mid 800s AD, not the late 300s to early 400s AD that Ernán likely lived.

Another note is that while many recent scholars deliberately conflate Dau Galach son of Brión, fl. 400 AD, with Dau Tengae Umae son of Fergus, d. ~ 500 AD, the genealogical evidence shows they were two separate individuals, with Dau Tengae Umae being a later descendant of Dau Galach.

[pdonelan]

Thank you both for your valuable and helpful information.
Tim, where does the Cindroma.jpg image come from?
Patrick

[tamcevoy]

A Guide to Irish Roots -
Durning, William; Durning, Mary

[pdonelan]

Thank you

[BuckeyeMike]

The Book of Ballymote adds this for Eirnin:

Screenshot (242).png

Of note: Durning lists the Mac Dermott of Moylurg descending from Conchobair mac Tadg mac Cathal instead of Maelruanaid mac Tadg mac Cathal.

Screenshot (243).png

I have not seen this anywhere else, so Durning's references are incorrect (or correct; David and I discussed this back in 2021). As always, take the sources with a grain of salt and double-triple-etc. check!