Clavis Litterarum Hibernensium

• Greek & Latin Languages & Literatures, Ancient History & Archaeology

« L’extraordinaire richesse d’informations fournie par la CLH (…) permette une exploitation optimale de ce remarquable instrument. » (R. Godding, dans Analecta Bollandiana, 135//II, 2017, p. 436)

“We congratulate Ó Corráin for his pioneering labour of love and Brepols for maintaining their impressive support for mediaeval literature in general and Irish studies in particular.” (J.K. Elliott, in Novum Testamentum, 60, 2018, p. 222)

« Voici, en trois épais volumes, une somme et un extraordinaire point de départ. » (A. Schoysman, dans Scriptorium Bulletin Codicologique, 1, 2018, p. 18)

"It is no exaggeration to say that these books will open up the exegesis of this literature in ways that were formerly impossible. (…) It will be the task of the next generation of scholars to pursue this work piecemeal and to take up the challenge that O C. has bequeathed.” (Michael Clarke, in Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch, 53/3, 2018, p. 499-500)

“Even a brief perusal of this work demonstrates the quantity and quality of the medieval Irish literary achievement in both Latin and the vernacular and across a variety of genres. That he has largely achieved his goal is testament to the breadth and depth of Ó Corráin’s knowledge, built over the course of a career spanning nearly half a century. The result of his labor of love is a landmark accomplishment that speaks in important ways about the current status of the discipline and will be valued by future generations of students and scholars alike.” (Patrick Wadden, in The North American Journal of Celtic Studies, 3/1, 2019, p. 85)

"In a towering beacon of scholarship of the kind that other countries expect of learned academies or institutes of advanced studies, Prof. Ó Corráin in this marvellous Clavis single-handedly (...) has produced 'a monument more lasting than bronze' (...) The Clavis is not just the book of the decade in Early Irish Studies; it is a work for the ages." (Dáibhí ó Cróinín, in History Ireland, vol. 27, no. 3, May/June 2019, p. 58-59)

“For the scholar with a particular interest in medieval Ireland, this book offers something far greater: by ordering and enumerating this mass of sources with appropriate bibliographical references within the confines of one volume, Donnchadh Ó Corráin has helped to make the medieval Irish literary tradition as a whole more visible, and more comprehensible. This Clavis will stand as a lasting testimony to a master scholar.” (Clare Stancliffe, in The Journal of Theological Studies, 70/2, 2019, p. 884)

"Only occasionally does a work appear whose impact on our praxis of scholarship is so great that anyone working in the field must thereafter take account of it. Even fewer are the occasions when a work that is, of its nature, taxonomic and bibliographical can claim such a significance. (...) looking at entry after entry one is staggered that Ó Corráin could not only assemble such a vast array of detail but orchestrate it so that others’ work is focused and lightened over the whole range of the material. (...) The CLH is, therefore, a measure of the state of medieval Irish studies today." (Thomas O'Loughlin, in The Irish Theologcial Quarterly 85/1, 2020, p. 80–86)

“Ó Corráin’s erudition and status as one of the founding fathers of the modern discipline of Irish medieval history qualified him as the perfect editor of this authoritative, comprehensive, rationally organized, and easy-to-use repertory, which is set to reshape our understanding of key strands of the field of medieval Irish studies. (...) scholars of all disciplines, who are interested in medieval Irish sources, will now have their go-to work of reference for decades to come.” (Roy Flechner, in Early Medieval Europe, 28/3, 2020, p. 500)

« ...nulle doute que la Clavis de Donnchadh Ó Corráin ne fournisse la réponse elle-même, du moins tous les instruments permettand de l'apporter, réalisant ainsi un « travail de mémoire » dont nous avons dans nos disciplines bien peu d'exemples de cette maîtrise. » (Benoit Gain, dans Revue des études latines 97, 2019, p. 228-235)

Donnchadh Ó Corráin († 2017) was emeritus professor of medieval history at University College-National University of Ireland, Cork. He was a member of the Royal Irish Academy, visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, 1978-9; and Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Balliol College Oxford, 1993-4. He was founder-editor of Peritia, 1982-2014 (25 volumes). He established the CELT on-line corpus of Irish texts (celt.ucc.ie). He has published widely on medieval Irish literature, text history, vernacular law, church history, canon law, genealogy, politics, kingship, social history, the Vikings, and other topics.