Irish Bible History (3) 
**List: Irish Ministry
the Bible ( an Biobla )
Irish...
"III.--VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. It has been conjectured that the Scriptures were translated into Irish soon after the introduction
of Christianity into the island, but we possess no definite account of any early version. The MS.
containing the life of Moses and the patriarchs, described by Vallancey, although of unquestionable
antiquity, is rather an historical compendium than a direct translation from the sacred text. There is no
positive evidence of the existence of the Scriptures in Erse till the age immediately preceding that of
Wickliffe, when a version of the New Testament is stated to have been in the possession of Richard
Fitzralph, a native of Dundalk, raised in 1347 to the see of Armagh, and hence frequently called
Richard Armachanus. Fitzralph is generally supposed to have been himself the translator of this
version; and in his autobiography he relates "how the Lord taught him, and brought him out of the
profound subtleties of Aristotle's philosophy to the study of the Scriptures of God." Although he
was remarkable for the boldness with which he opposed the corruptions of the Church of Rome, yet
he was compelled by the troubles of the times to conceal his New Testament. He deposited the
precious volume inside one of the walls of his church, and wrote the following note on the last leaf:--
"When this book is found, truth will be revealed to the world, or Christ will shortly appear." About
170 years after his death, that is to say, about the year 1530, the church of Armagh was repaired, and
the MS. was discovered. No vestige of it, however, exists at the present time, although Fox in his"Actes and Monumentes," published 1570, says, "I credibly heare of certayne old Irish Bibles trans-
lated long since into the Irish tong, which if it be true, it is not other lyke, but to be the doing of
this Armachanus:" and he adds that "this was testified by certayne Englishmen, who are yet alyve,
and have seen it." Usher, also, speaks of fragments of an Irish version being extant in his time.
In the year 1571 a printing press and a fount of Irish types were provided by Queen Elizabeth
at her own expense, "in hope (as it is stated in the dedication of the Irish New Testament) that God
in mercy would raise up some to translate the New Testament into their mother tongue." The trans-
lation was soon afterwards undertaken by three distinguished individuals-- John Kearney, treasurer
of St. Patrick's, Dublin; Nicholas Walsh, chancellor of St. Patrick's, and afterwards bishop of Ossory;
and Nehemiah Donellan, a native of Galway, who in 1595 became archbishop of Tuam. Walsh was
murdered in his own house in 1585, while engaged in the prosecution of the work. The translation
was not suspended after his decease, as his two fellow-labourers proceeded diligently with it. Little,
however, is known concerning the result of their labours, except that they prepared the way for the
completion of the version of the New Testament eventually published in 1602. William Daniel, or
O’Donnell, archbishop of Tuam, by whom this version was completed and carried through the press,
was assisted by Mortogh O’Cionga, or King, a native of Connaught. The translation was made from
the Greek, "to which," says Dr. Daniel in his epistle dedicatory to King James, "I tied myself as of
duty I ought." The edition, printed in 1602, was in the Irish character, and in folio, and consisted
of 500 copies; the expense was defrayed by the province of Connaught, and by Sir William Usher,
clerk of the council.
With the exception of the passages of Scripture inserted in the Book of Common Prayer, which
had been translated into Irish and printed by Dr. Daniel in 1608, no portion of the Old Testament
existed in this language until the venerable Bishop Bedell undertook to procure a translation.
Although appointed in 1629 to the see of Kilmore and Ardagh, he was an Englishman by birth, and
unacquainted with the language of his new diocese. His first step toward the accomplishment of his
important design was, therefore, the acquisition of the Erse dialect, which he commenced to study at
the age of fifty-seven. His next measure was to secure the services of a native Irish scholar, and with
the advice of Primate Usher, his choice fell on Mr. King, who had, as before mentioned, been employed
by Dr. Daniel. He likewise availed himself of the assistance of the Rev. Dennis O’Sheriden, and with
the aid of these two individuals, the version of the Old Testament was completed in 1640. Mr. King
being ignorant of Hebrew, the translation was made in the first place from the English version. To
Bishop Bedell the Hebrew and the Septuagint were as familiar as the English, for the Scriptures had
for years been his favourite study. It was his custom, says his biographer, every day after dinner and
supper to have a chapter of the Bible read at his table, whoever might be present; when Bibles being
placed before each individual, the Hebrew or Greek was laid before himself. As he compared the
Irish translation with the English, so he compared both with the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and with
the Italian version of his friend Diodati, whom he highly valued. Every portion of the Irish Bible
was thus tested by direct comparison with the original text; and for this task Bishop Bedell was
peculiarly qualified, having resided many years at Venice as chaplain to Sir Henry Wotton, where he
had studied Hebrew under Rabbi Leo, the chief chachan of the Jewish synagogue. For some cause
or other, however, Mr. King, then above eighty years of age, incurred the enmity of Usher and some
other bishops, in fact of the very persons by whom he had been recommended as a translator, and
great opposition was made to the translation; the old man sank beneath these unjust persecutions, but
Bishop Bedell remained firm in his determination to publish the version, and finally resolved to
print it at his own expense, and in his own house. But while he was making preparations for the
undertaking, the rebellion broke out; his palace was attacked, and he and his family were sent
prisoners to the Castle of Lochwater. He was soon afterwards removed to the house of his friend
Dennis O’Sheriden, where he closed his career of usefulness in 1641.
After the death of this excellent prelate, the circulation of the vernacular Scriptures was utterly
neglected by the bishops and clergy of Ireland; the version of the Old Testament was suffered toremain in MS.; no attempt was made to reprint the New Testament; and even the types that had been
provided by Queen Elizabeth, after being handed about from one printer to another, were bought up
by the Jesuits, and were carried by them to Douay, to be used as the vehicle of disseminating their
own sentiments among the native Irish. At length, when the New Testament was completely out of
print, another edition was conferred on Ireland by the munificence of a private individual, the Hon.
Robert Boyle. A new fount of Irish types was cast by order of Mr. Boyle in London, with which
a second edition of the New Testament, consisting of about 750 copies in 4to., was published in
1681. This was followed by the printing of Bishop Bedell's version of the Old Testament, chiefly
at the expense of Mr. Boyle. The MS. had been confided by Bedell to the care of his friend Dennis
O’Sheriden, one of the translators, from whom it had passed to Dr. Henry Jones, bishop of Meath:
this latter communicated with Mr. Boyle on the subject, and the MS. was placed in the hands of
Dr. Andrew Sail for examination; the sheets were found in much confusion, and defaced in some
parts. Dr. Sail, therefore, undertook to revise the work, which revision he continued to prosecute till
his death in 1682. Mr. Higgins, the Irish lecturer in Trinity College, who had assisted Dr. Sall in
preparing the corrected copy for the press, completed the revision in conjunction with Mr. Reilly,
under the general superintendence of Dr. Marsh, afterwards primate of Ireland. An edition con-
sisting of 500 copies of the entire Bible, in 2 vols. quarto, was printed in London in 1686, under the
care of Mr. Reilly. Above 200 copies of this edition, as has already been stated, were sent to
Scotland for the benefit of those to whom the Gaelic tongue was vernacular.
More than a century was suffered to roll away before any efficient measures were taken to reprint
the Scriptures in Irish. A second edition of the Bible was certainly printed in 1790; but this edition
was in Roman characters, and designed chiefly for the Highlanders of Scotland. In 1799, Dr. Stokes
published 2000 copies of St. Luke and the Acts, followed in 1806 by an edition of the Four Gospels
and the Acts, in parallel columns of Erse and English; but these small portions of Scripture were far
from sufficient to meet the wants of the Irish nation, and were moreover printed in the Roman
character. The honour of first supplying Ireland with Bibles, after so long a period of destitution,
belongs to the British and Foreign Bible Society. "In 1809," says Mr. Owen, "after a discussion,
alternately suspended and renewed, for five years, and a correspondence of considerable extent with
prelates, scholars, and public bodies in Ireland, an edition of the New Testament of 2000 copies, con-
formable to the accredited version of Bishop Bedell, was put to press by the Society. This edition
was in Roman characters, and was followed in 1813 by another edition from the same stereotype
plates, of 3000 copies. Another edition of 2500 copies was struck off in 1816, and again another of
3000 copies in 1817. An edition of the complete Irish Bible, in Roman characters, was issued by the
Society in 1817; the version of Bedell was employed as the text of the Old Testament. The edition
was in octavo, and consisted of 5000 copies. In the course of the following year, 3000 copies of the
New Testament, in the Irish character, were struck off from stereotype plates. At length in 1828 the
entire Irish Bible appeared in the vernacular character, from the version of Bedell and Daniel. The
edition was published under the superintendence of a committee, and consisted of 5000 copies in 8vo.,
besides 20,000 copies of the New Testament. The editor on this occasion was Mr. M‘Quige; but the
sheets were likewise examined by Dr. Monck Mason and others." The Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge have had their attention recently directed to the superintendence of a revised edition of
the Irish Scriptures, but the work has been deferred until the more urgent demand for a revised edition
of the Common Prayer Book (at present in progress) shall have been met. The total number of Irish
Bibles and Testaments that have been published by the British and Foreign Bible Society up to the
year 1860 is as follows:--
Bibles . . . . . . 15,000
Testaments . . . . . 84,523
Separate Books . . . . . 18,020
---------
Total . . 117,543"--1860 S. Bagster [Info only]IRISH. [LONDON.]--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Erse Character "1844" John 1:1-12 unknown.]
IRISH. [LONDON.]--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Roman Character "1824" John 1:1-12 unknown.]
THE IRISH OF MUNSTER.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Roman Character n.d. John 1:1-10 unknown.]
"IV.--RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Notwithstanding the calamities with which Ireland has at various times been visited, the sacred
Scriptures have been diligently disseminated throughout the length and breadth of the country; and
though the results may not yet appear, it is certain that the precious seed thus scattered will ultimately
take root, and bear fruit to the glory of God. At the anniversary of the Hibernian Bible Society, in
1855, which was also their Jubilee meeting, it was stated that the issues of this Society from its
formation in 1806, at which time there were not more than twelve towns in Ireland in which the
Scriptures were sold, had amounted to 2,360,814 copies, of which 84,671 were Bibles, Testaments,
and portions in the Irish language.
One result of the circulation of the Irish Bible has been the extensive perusal of the English
version. The Irish version is remarkably faithful and accurate, but contains many difficult, and some
obsolete, words. The meaning of several passages is thus greatly obscured, and this has served to rouse
the naturally enquiring spirit of the native Irish. In cases of perplexity they have acquired the habit
of seeking in the English Bible an elucidation of the Irish text. The study of the English language
has in consequence greatly progressed in Ireland, and in some places the English Bible is known by the
familiar designation of "the construer." Dr. Monck Mason mentions that after the circulation of the
Irish Bible, 700 copies of the English Testament were sold upon one occasion in the course of a few
hours in the same place, where, but a dozen years previously, one of these very volumes had been
publicly and triumphantly burnt. Owing to the benevolent efforts of the Sunday and other School
Societies, the Irish peasantry have the means of learning to read the Scriptures very generally within
their reach. At the commencement of the year 1860, the schools connected with the Sunday School
Society for Ireland amounted to 2,686, which were reported to be attended by 230,668 children and
adults, instructed by 20,873 gratuitous teachers; and 151,315 of the scholars were stated to be reading
in the Bible or Testament. The total number of Scriptures gratuitously granted, or sold at reduced
prices, since the Society's formation, amounts to a total of more than a million and a half.
The following remarks, occurring in a collective address of eight Irish teachers, written in
the year 1845, are too appropriate to be omitted :--"What a living Ronge has effected in
Germany, the immortal Bedell may yet effect in Ireland. ‘[H]e being dead yet speaketh’--yet
speaketh in the Irish Bible; which, under the blessing of the Almighty, has already brought thousands
from darkness to light--from bigotry and superstition to Christian knowledge and liberality of mind.
Though persecution and anathema deter many from uniting with us, still the Irish Bible and the Irish
school have raised up intelligent men, who will not be prevented from reading the Holy Scriptures.
These men know that for centuries past their brethren in Ireland, speaking the Irish language
exclusively, have been allowed to live and to die without the Scriptures in their own tongue--they
know that the Church of Rome, until this day, has not provided a translation of the Scriptures in Irish
--they know, if it had not been for the Irish Society, they themselves must have been as the neglected
generations departed. They feel then most grateful for Irish Schools and the Irish Bible. They have
read it--they are reading it--they will read it, and hand it down to their children's children as the
most valuable gift that Ireland ever received.""--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only: Hiberian BS, Dublin has published a Roman Catholic edition.]
[Christian Helps Ministry (USA)] [Christian Home Bible Course]