Tuileagna Ó Maol Chonaire
Encyclopedia
Tuileagna Ó Maol Chonaire (fl.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1637) was an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

.

Background

Tuileagna was a member of the Ó Maolconaire
Ó Maolconaire
Ó Maolconaire was the surname of a family of professional poets and historians in Medieval Ireland. It is now rendered Mulconry, Conroy, Conaire.-Overview:...

 Brehon
Brehon
Brehon is the term in Gaelic-Irish culture for a judge. The Brehons were part of the system of "Brehon Law". The Brehons wore yellow robes when delivering verdicts. Several dozen families were recognised as hereditary brehon clans.-See also:* Mac an Bhaird...

 family, but it has proved difficult for researchers to uncover more detail about him. His antagonist, Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire
Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire
Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire, co-compiler and scribe of the Annals of the Four Masters, fl. 1620's-1640's.-Family background:Ó Maol Chonaire was a member of the Ó Maolconaire brehon family of north County Roscommon...

, said in a poem that his father's name was Seanchán. He might be identified with the Tuileagna Ó Maol Chonaire who was a student at the University of Louvain in 1625, or a student at the Irish College at Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...

 in April 1610, who was aged about twenty-five.

He is usually thought to have been the Tuileagna Ó Maol Chonaire recorded living in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 some years later. In March 1658, a man of that name authenticated a genealogical transcript, identifying himself as seancha coitcheann Éireann/general historian of Ireland. In September 1659, the same man transcribed a tract
Tract (literature)
A tract is a literary work, and in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time. By the early part of the 21st century, these meant small pamphlets used for religious and political purposes, though far more often the former. They are...

 on grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...

 and prosody
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...

 for Father Patrick Tyrrell
Patrick Tyrrell
The Most Reverend Patrick Tyrrell was appointed to the post of Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher in 1676; he died in this position in 1689. He was succeeded by Bishop Hugh MacMahon on 15 March 1707. Little else is recorded about Bishop Tyrrell.-Categories:...

, OFM, indicating that the man in Madrid had links with the Irish Franciscans, perhaps himself being a member of the order.

A later Tuileagna Ó Maol Chonaire added a note to Laud Misc 610 in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, 1673, but his identity is unknown. An earlier Tuileagna Ó Maoil Chonaire
Tuileagna Ó Maoil Chonaire
Tuileagna Ó Maoil Chonaire was an Irish poet.A member of the Ó Maolconaire bardic family of Connacht, Tuileagna is known from a number of extant works, including Labhram ar iongnaibh Éireann, addressed to Sir Nicholas Walsh, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Speaker of the third parliament...

, was a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 alive about 1585.

Dispute with the Four Masters

In 1637, upon Mícheál Ó Cléirigh
Mícheál Ó Cléirigh
Mícheál Ó Cléirigh , sometimes known as Michael O'Clery, was an Irish chronicler, scribe and antiquary and chief author of the Annals of the Four Masters, assisted by Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire, and Peregrinus Ó Duibhgeannain.-Background and early life:Grandson of Tuathal...

's return to Louvain
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...

 with the finished autograph
Autograph
An autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...

 of the Annals of the Four Masters
Annals of the Four Masters
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

, Tuileagna publicly expressed concerns on four points of detail in Genalogiae regum et sanctorum Hiberhiae and the Four Masters text, stating that the points cast a slur on the status of Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...

. He furthermore stated that Conchobhar Mac Bruaideadha withdrew his approbation
Approbation
Approbation is, in Roman Catholic canon law, an act by which a bishop or other legitimate superior grants to an ecclesiastic the actual exercise of his ministry....

 in public following a general chapter of the Franciscans in Thomond
Thomond
Thomond The region of Ireland associated with the name Thomond is County Clare, County Limerick and north County Tipperary; effectively most of north Munster. The name is used by a variety of establishments and organisations located in , or associated with the region...

 in 1638, while stating that Flan Mac Aodhagáin had temporarily withdrawn his approbation in 1637 until the disputed points were resolved.

Discussion of the matter continued after Ó Cléirigh's death in 1643, and in part led to the delay in publication of the work.

Two of the Masters, Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh
Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh
Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh was an Irish historian and genealogist, known in English as Peregrine O'Clery.-Life and work:Ó Cléirigh was a son of Diarmaid Ó Cléirigh, and thus a third-cousin once removed to Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, whom he assisted in compiling the Annals of the Four...

 and Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire
Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire
Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire, co-compiler and scribe of the Annals of the Four Masters, fl. 1620's-1640's.-Family background:Ó Maol Chonaire was a member of the Ó Maolconaire brehon family of north County Roscommon...

, wrote responses in prose and verse to Tuileagna, though that of Cú Choigcríche has not survived.

Bernadette Cunningham has noted "That the Tuileagna Ó Maol Chonaire who criticized Ó Cléirigh's work was a Franciscan would have made it relatively easy for him to have the matter of the accuracy of AFM and associated texts raised at no less than three formal Chapters
Chapters
Chapters is a Canadian big box bookstore banner owned by Indigo Books and Music. Formerly a company in its own right competing with Indigo, the combined company has continued to operate both banners since their merger in 2001.-History:...

 of the order - at Thomond (1638), Multyfarnham
Multyfarnham
Multyfarnham or Multyfarnam is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland.-History:The Irish Franciscan friars still maintain a presence in the ancient monastery here which was founded in 1268. During the English conquest of Ireland it was raided six times and twice burnt out by the Crown forces...

 (1641) and Dublin." (p.266) She furthermore states:

(p.266)

Tuileagna did not offer to revise the text himself, instead proposing that the Reverend Brian Flann Mac Aodhagáin and others assess it.

Publication delay

Tuileagna's views held enough influence within the Irish Franciscan community to delay publication. While manuscripts of the Annals circulated for generations, it was only in 1846 that a version translated into English was published by Owen Connellan
Owen Connellan
Owen Connellan was an Irish scholar who translated the Annals of the Four Masters into English in 1846.-Life:He was born in County Sligo, the son of a farmer who claimed descent from Lóegaire mac Néill, High King of Ireland in the fifth century. He studied Irish literature and obtained employment...

, and only as far as 1171. John O'Donovan (scholar)
John O'Donovan (scholar)
John O'Donovan , from Atateemore, in the parish of Kilcolumb, County Kilkenny, and educated at Hunt's Academy, Waterford, was an Irish language scholar from Ireland.-Life:...

edited the six volumes that comprised the full text published in the 1850's.
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