University of Glasgow Gaelic professor discovers lost Scottish Gaelic manuscripts
Published: 7 February 2025
A total of 56 historically significant Gaelic manuscripts that had been missing for over half a century were discovered by UofG's Professor Rob Ó Maolalaigh
A University of Glasgow professor has uncovered 56 historically significant Gaelic manuscripts that had been missing for over half a century.
The collection, which includes a significant number of important 18th and 19th-century documents, was discovered by Professor Rob Ó Maolalaigh while examining a private collection.
The manuscripts, which had been missing since the late 1960s, were originally part of the collections of two prominent Gaelic scholars: the Rev Dr Donald MacNicol, minister of Lismore (1735-1802), and Rev Dr Alexander Irvine, minister of little Dunkeld (1773-1824), both notable collectors of Gaelic poetry and song.
Professor Ó Maolalaigh, Professor of Gaelic based at the University’s School of Humanities | Sgoil nan Daonnachdan said: "These manuscripts represent a vital piece of Scotland's literary and cultural heritage. Their absence created a significant hiatus in Gaelic scholarship over an entire generation, and their rediscovery opens up exciting new opportunities for research and teaching.”
Among the collection’s highlights is a unique notebook containing songs by the eighteenth-century Sutherland poet Rob Donn Mackay, recorded from his daughter Janet’s recitation in Edinburgh on December 22, 1800 in the presence of Duncan Ban MacIntyre (1724 – 1812) one of Gaelic’s most renowned poets. The manuscripts also include previously unexplored correspondence, sermons in both Gaelic and English, and an extensive collection of Gaelic poetry ranging from Ossianic verse to contemporary works of the period.
Following their discovery in November 2022, Professor Ó Maolalaigh worked to ensure the manuscripts’ safe return to their rightful home at the National Library of Scotland, where they are now available for consultation by researchers. The collection comprises 33 manuscripts from the McNicol Collection and 23 from the Irvine Collection.
This discovery represents a significant contribution to Scottish cultural heritage and opens new avenues for research in Gaelic studies. The manuscripts are now accessible to scholars and researchers at the National Library of Scotland's reading rooms, ensuring their preservation for future generations.
Professor Ó Maolalaigh said: “These rediscovered manuscripts fill a significant gap in our primary resources for these periods. I am delighted that scholars and students will now be able to access them once again for research and scholarship. They will enable us to gain further valuable insights into the role Gaelic and Gaelic scholars contributed to the broader Enlightenment period.”
First published: 7 February 2025