Monasticon Hibernicum
The title Monasticon Hibernicum carries several important works on the history of Irish monasteries from the early Christian beginnings from Saint Patrick to the time of the Reformation and the secularizations associated with it . Despite the long period of editions from 1690 to 1876 by a total of four different authors, the works are to be seen as a sequence in which each work is largely based on the previous version. The early versions are also significant in that they sometimes used materials that have not been preserved.
The beginnings in the 17th century
The antiquarian Sir James Ware began a systematic collection of materials on Irish history in the first half of the 17th century. This research enabled him to publish his first work on Irish church history in Dublin in 1626, Archiepiscoporum Casseliensium & Tuamensium vitae . This contains brief biographies of all the Archbishops of Cashel and Tuam since the 12th century. The volume is supplemented by a list of the Cistercian abbeys in Ireland. Shortly thereafter, in 1628, the volume De praesulibus Lageniae, sive provinciae Dubliniensis appeared , which, beginning with Dúnán († 1074), presented the archbishops of Dublin and the bishops of the dioceses belonging to Dublin.
The best-known and most extensive work by Ware, however, is De Hibernia & antiquitatibus ejus disquisitiones , which appeared in London in 1654. The 92-page chapter it contains, entitled Monasteriologia Hibernica, is the first published compilation of all Irish monasteries. Since Ware himself did not speak Irish or even Old Irish , he was essentially dependent on the expert Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh , who he employed from 1655 to 1666, to evaluate the manuscripts for him.
Ware was a pioneer in his work because he not only named the sources of his works in detail, but also proceeded largely methodically himself from today's perspective. His information is largely reliable, even though he made a few mistakes which are understandable based on the sources at the time.
Ware's works later served as the basis for Louis Augustin Alemand , who published his work in Paris in 1690 with the title Histoire Monastique d'Ireland . Compared to Ware, however, a lot of information has been added, so that with over 400 pages and associated map material, a rather extensive work was created.
Translation and extension by Stevens
Not much later, at the beginning of the 18th century, John Stevens was working on a similar project for the monasteries in England, Wales and Scotland, which was later published as a monumental two-volume epic in 1723 under the name The History of the Antient Abbeys, Monasteries, Hospitals, Cathedral and Collegiate Churches should appear as a compendium to the Monasticon Anglicanum by Sir William Dugdale . We know from Stevens himself that it was not easy for him to secure a copy of Alemand's work. Apparently the edition was quite small, the inventory sold out comparatively quickly and the work never reached the London book trade. Accordingly, he was only able to get hold of it with considerable effort in Paris.
In 1722, William Mears in London published Stevens' work under the title Monasticon Hibernicum. Or, Monastical History of Ireland . This book is often mentioned in bibliographies only as a translation of Alemand's work into the English language. However, this falls short and Stevens discusses this in detail in his introduction. He expressly acknowledges Alemand's extensive work in advance and emphasizes that the majority of the materials go back to him. However, says Stevens, it was easy for him to add and correct this in many ways, since Alemand, as a foreigner, could not take all the help that was open to him. This is especially understandable when one takes into account that Stevens was collecting materials for his work via the monasteries in Great Britain at the same time.
Steven's work is organized according to the various monastic orders represented in Ireland. For each order he gives an introduction and then presents the individual monasteries of the respective order in the order of their founding or importance. Information from earlier times is often vague, very incomplete or incorrect, while information from the time shortly before the resolution is much more detailed and reliable. With very few exceptions, there are no sources.
The 476-page work is supplemented by a then current map of Ireland, the images of various habitats and a detailed index. The enclosed map by the geographer Herman Moll is noteworthy as it not only provides an orientation for the location of the monasteries, but was also developed as a general road map of Ireland. Even all important connecting roads are provided with distance information in miles.
New approach from Archdall
In 1786, after more than forty years of research, the antiquarian Mervyn Archdall published his work, also entitled Monasticon Hibernicum, in English with L. White in Dublin .
Revision by Moran
In 1873 and 1876, Patrick Francis Moran , who later became Cardinal and Archbishop of Sydney , published a revised and supplemented two-volume version at WB Kelly in Dublin .
