919J O’Hussey ((= Ó hEoghusa, Giolla Brighde) d-1614
Romæ: typis Sacræ Congreg. de Propag. Fide. anno, 1707. Price $7,500
Octavo signatures : A-E8, “FG”8, H-R8, a4 The text has been set in Celtic type. Edited by Philip Maguire. The final four leaves comprise ‘Tosach agus aistriugha miorbhuileach Theampoill Mhuire Loreto’, preceeded by a leaf of woodcut illustration.
P. 256 misnumbered 259. In the word “bráṫar”, on the titlepage the character following “t” is similar in shape to a g with a stroke through its tail. This has been transliterated as “ar”. The recto of the leaf of illustration is a woodcut of the Crucifixion and the verso is a woodcut of the Coronation of the Virgin. ‘Tosach agus aistriugha miorbhuileach Theampoill Mhuire Loreto’ is a drop-head title. Maguire’s editorship is stated in a colophon on p. 259[i.e.256]
With woodcut device to title page and 3 full page woodcuts. – Early Irish catechism printed in Gaelic type by the Gaelic Franciscan and poet Bonaventura O’Hussey (1574-1614). Third edition (contrary to indication on title page), previous ones published in 1611 (Antwerp) and ca. 1614 (Louvain). – Somewhat browned and foxed, a bit waterstained, from p. 227 worm trail to binding and margin, small loss of image to borders of 2 woodcuts. Crossed out ms. note to title page, also small tear to woodcut device. Bound in contemporary vellum.
O’Hussey was senior lector in the Irish Franciscan College and deeply involved in the project of codifying the Irish language for scholarly use. He participated in compiling early lexica and orthographic rules (precursors to the Grammatica Hibernica of Molloy). His colleagues in the Louvain circle saw the vernacular as both a missionary instrument and a means of national preservation — “the language by which Ireland might be saved for the Faith.”
O’Hussey’s early death in 1614 curtailed further projects, but his linguistic reforms — especially his standardization of lenition marks and the use of dotted consonants (ċ, ṁ, ṡ) — became canonical in Irish typography. Every later Irish catechism, prayer-book, or devotional text printed by the Propaganda Fide in Rome (e.g. the 1707 edition) ultimately descends from his model.
This is the third edition of the Irish Catechism by the Gaelic poet and recusant Giolla Brighde Ó hEoghusa (Bonaventure O’Hussey, 1574–1614)—a foundational figure of early modern Irish literary culture and one of the first to work systematically with the Irish types at the Roman Propaganda Press. Printed in the distinctive Irish type cut expressly—with papal approval—to complete the type repertory for the polyglot press of the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide in Rome, this edition stands at the crossroads of Counter-Reformation mission, Irish linguistic preservation, and the visual politics of early Catholic printing for the Gaelic world. Prepared by Philip Maguire, O.F.M., a learned Irish Franciscan of St. Isidore’s College in Rome, the text represents the Propaganda’s third attempt to circulate an Irish-language catechetical program to the diaspora and to the clandestine mission in Ireland.
The final four leaves contain “Tosach agus aistriugha miorbhuileach Theampoill Mhuire Loreto,” an account of the miraculous Translation of the House of the Virgin from Nazareth to Loreto—an episode of great importance in post-Tridentine Marian devotion. This section is preceded by the leaf bearing the woodcuts, which visually introduce the Loreto miracle and anchor the catechism within a larger devotional framework.
Together, these elements make the book not only a rare survival of early Irish-type printing in Rome, but also a vivid witness to how Continental Catholic institutions strategically used the Irish language, Irish scholarship, and imagery to sustain faith and identity among the embattled Catholic communities of Ireland.
“‘An Teagasg Criosdaidhe’ is the material incarnation of the complex and fascinating history of Irish character types. It is the third edition of a catechism written by an Irish Franciscan exiled to Louvain after the pillage of Donegal monastery.
“This catechism in the vernacular is a direct product of the Counter-Reformation project defined by the Council of Trent: O’Hussey composed it in response to the translation into Irish of the New Testament and the “daily appearing” of Protestant tracts dispersed through Ireland. Its reprint in Rome follows the migration of part of the Irish Franciscan community established in St Anthony’s College in Louvain to St Isidore College in Rome.
“The migration of Irish Franciscan monks, from Louvain to Rome, symbolizes the Catholic Church’s concentration of its propagandist effort around the Holy See as much as it reveals the fall of Antwerp and Louvain as printing capitals of Europe and the rise of Rome as home of the polyglot press. Indeed, difficult as the process of composition in and by itself might have been, the production and composition of texts in Armenian, Irish, Arabic, or Greek required exceptional skills from the type-caster and the compositor.
“The first edition of An Teagasg Criosdaidhe is described by Brendan Leen as ‘the first authentic Irish character type’. While previous Irish typography mixed Roman types for letters and marks shared by both alphabets, the Louvain Irish script adapted Irish calligraphy found in manuscripts. After this long and painstaking effort for the printing of a single title, one could then imagine that the monks took the characters from Louvain to Rome and reused them for the 1707 edition. On the contrary, this re-edition is a very rare example of the Rome Irish type, cast after Papal approval in 1638. Created to complete the collection of types for the polyglot press, the script evolved away from a manuscript model to suit the technical advances of the mobile press. Although the typography seems much more elegant and coherent than its Flemish predecessor, Edward Lynam describes its slightly off-centered f as ‘a large policeman trying to keep an unruly crowd in order’.”(Louisiane Ferlier, Oxford)
Note on transcribing the title from ESTC: In the word “bráṫar”, on the titlepage the character following “t” is similar in shape to a g with a stroke through its tail. This has been transliterated as “ar”. The recto of the leaf of illustration is a woodcut of the Crucifixion and the verso is a woodcut of the Coronation of the Virgin. “Tosach agus aistriugha miorbhuileach Theampoill Mhuire Loreto” is a drop-head title. Maguire’s editorship is stated in a colophon on p. 259 [i.e.256].
ESTC T180574. https://datb.cerl.org/estc/_search?query=T180574&from=0 North American copies: NYPL, Georgetown, Florida, Newberry, Saint Meinrad Abbey, BC, Harvard, Seton Hall, Emory, McGill, Notre Dame.
Founded in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide centralized Catholic missionary strategy during the Counter-Reformation — and quickly recognized that mission required printing in local languages. By the 1630s its Roman press had become one of Europe’s most ambitious polyglot typographic enterprises, producing works in Arabic, Armenian, Greek, Syriac, Ethiopic, and Irish.
Papal authorization in 1638 expanded its repertory of non-Latin types, allowing the casting of specialized scripts for missionary use. These were not commercial ventures but instruments of doctrine, education, and linguistic stabilization. The Irish type used in the 1707 An Teagasg Criosdaidhe belongs to this mature Roman phase — a refined vernacular font designed to sustain Catholic identity through print in an era of exile and confessional conflict.
Jamesgray2@me.com
Leave a Reply