Special Collections at Villanova University holds a number of Irish (Irish Gaelic) Manuscripts. The recent book by William Mahon, titled
Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in Villanova University, Pennsylvania , details these titles with great care and has called greater attention to the source documents. At the request of a scholar in Ireland, we are in the process of digitizing these works and adding them to the Digital Library Manuscript Collection in order to provide greater access to the research community.

The first Irish manuscript digitized, Miscellaneous verse; prayers, contains a variety of epic Irish poetry including some translated into English by the scribe and a variety of prayers and transcribed oral tales.

In order to preserve the order and placement of the digital text in relation to the original, we digitize all materials as they are viewed — i.e. from the same perspective and from the front of a bound work to the back. For this manuscript, text was written both horizontally and vertically in relation to binding, as well as being flipped and written from the rear cover. There are a set of tools on the viewing page that enable a reader rotate the image and pan to the left and right – to access this click on the up/down/left/right arrow icon. This will make reading easier. Please also note that we scan in at a very high dot-per-inch resolution (600 dpi); this creates a very large image so you may need to give the network some time to respond when viewing or rotating the larger images depending on your local connection speed.