Bryson and McAdam collection of Gaelic Manuscripts

Acquisition of the Bryson and McAdam collection of 43 Gaelic manuscripts representing the most comprehensive and important collection of Irish language manuscripts now in existence in Northern Ireland. The mss date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and contain poetry, folklore, folksongs, natural history and religious texts. Many of the items are unique in Ireland, like the version of Deirdre written by Dr Samuel Bryson himself. Ulster poets are well represented in the collection such as James McCourt, Patrick McAlindon and Hugh MacDonnell. According to Professor Breandan O Buachalla in his introduction to the catalogue of the collection. “No scholar dealing with Irish language and literature in that period could ignore this material and it would be an essential tool in editing the work of Ulster poets or in any historical study of Ulster Irish”. The collection was purchased by Belfast Public Libraries in 1989 with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund.