The manuscript is written in the following hands.

1. Text, pages 1-49. Tuathal Buidhe Ó Duibhgeannáin (cf. pages ii, 10, 32, 42). Perhaps the Tuathal Ó Duibhgeannáin of the celebrated Connacht scribal family whose son Cú-coigcríche (flourished 1629) was one of the Four Masters (Walsh, ‘Irish men of learning’, page 2). His hand is rather large and coarse, and includes a frequent distinctive ‘a’ with curved-back ascender. There are some decorative initials, with a little mauve colouring at pages 11-13.

2. Text, page 33, column a, lines 1-2; notes, pages 22, 33, 35, 36.

3. Notes, pages ii, 23, 25, 27, 39, 48, 49. ‘Donatus’ (Donnchadh), page ii. At least as early as hand 6, cf. page 23.

4. Notes, pages 8, 14, 17, 32, 49. Appears to write ‘Maghnus’, page 32: cf. hand 5.

5. Notes, pages 9, 10, 12. Ciothruadh (page 9). Seán Ballach Ó Duibhgeannáin (alive 1644) was son of Ciothruadh, son of Maghnus (Walsh, ‘Irish men of learning’, page 4).

6. Notes, pages 20, 23, 27, 28, 32, 42, 46, 47; textual emendation, page 24, column a, line 36. Conaire mac Muiris Uí Mhaol-Chonaire, cf. page 42. For his surname he writes ‘hUi Moil tSetae’, a pun; for “tsēta” (‘path’, gs.) substitute its synonym ‘chonair’ (also gs.). A scribe of this name flourished 1573-1589 (Walsh, ‘Irish men of learning’, pages 18, 39). The hand, which seems indistinguishable from those of Fearghus and Rudhraidhe Ó Fearghail and is the most accomplished in the manuscript, also appears in the Annals of Loch Cé, Trinity College Dublin MS.1293 (‘Bidh sin agat, a Dhubhtaigh, o Conairi mac Muiris’, folio 49 verso), and in Bodleian MS. Laud 610, folio 98 recto, column a, line 22: ‘Is olc lem nach fagaim oenraed ar Laignib innso. Misi Conairi mac Muiris’. Cf. Dillon, ‘Laud Misc. 610’, page 148.

7. Textual emendation, page 25, column a, bottom of page. Very like script of Adv.MS.72.2.3.

8. Notes, pages 27, 28, 38. ‘Iohannes’, page 26: possibly a Beaton of Connacht. A small, neat hand very similar to that of the John Beaton who wrote parts of British Library MS. Add. 15,582 and Edinburgh University Library MS. Laing III 21 in Mayo circa 1563. His quatrain at folio 28 is followed by an illegible note by the anonymous hand 9 which seems to end with the Beaton surname contracted (‘McB ⁊’).

9. Note, pages 28-29.

10. Notes, pages 38, 39, 42.

11. Note, page 41.

12. Note, page 44. Very small hand.

13. Note, page 49.

14. Pages ii, 46, 49. Donagh O Hagan. Roman hand, circa 1700.

The manuscript contains the following principal marginalia. (John Mackechnie foliation is added to the descriptions in brackets for reference). (The number of hand is given in brackets following entries).

(i) Page 1 (folio 2 recto) ‘Do chosg ina faghbhaind dibh’, 1 quatrain (hand 1).

(ii) Page 2 (folio 2 verso) ‘A fhir ata a n-ifern riamh’, 1 quatrain (hand 1).

(iii) Page 3 (folio 3 recto) ‘Craes fearg edradh a cobhar’, 1 quatrain (hand 1).

(iv) Page 4 (folio 3 verso) ‘Cetra puirt g...anmain’, 1 quatrain (hand 1).

(v) Page 8 (folio 5 verso) ‘Bennacht cugad a Daigre’ (hand 4).

(vi) Page 9 (folio 6 recto) ‘Cia ni reis...’ (hand 8?). ‘Misi Ciotruaid...’ (hand 5).

(vii) Page 10 (folio 6 verso) ‘Oroid ar anm[ain] fir an leabairsi .i. Tuath[al]’ (hand 5).

(viii) Page 14 (folio 8 verso) ‘A Dia, is olc lem….’ (hand 4).

(ix) Page 17 (folio 10 recto) ‘Ataim tuirsec ⁊ me’ (hand 4).

(x) Page 19 (folio 11 recto) ‘Emanuel’ (hand 1).

(xii) Page 20 (folio 11 verso) ‘Amen amen’ (hand 6).

(xiii) Page 22 (folio 12 verso) ‘cinnus’; ‘ni ferr tusa’ (hand 2).

(xiv) Page 23 (folio 13 recto) ‘Mairg do duine, mairg do neoch’, 1 quatrain (hand 3); ‘Is firinnach an rann so’ (hand 6).

(xv) Page 25 (folio 14 recto) ‘Athconairc Pol peist i n-iff[irn]’, 1 quatrain (hand 3).

(xvi) Page 26 (folio 14 verso) ‘Leabhar(?) Duilbh I Duibhgh...seo agam ⁊ slan imraoidhthi(?) do fein. Misi Ioh[ann]es’ (hand 8).

(xvii) Page 27 (folio 15 recto) ‘Mac an abadh isin cill’ (hand 6). ‘Atconnairc an sluagh Gregach Aicil et Eachtair’ (hand 3).

(xviii) Page 28 (folio 15 verso) ‘Treigen domhan is mochen’, 1 quatrain (hand 8); ‘...McB ⁊’ (?) extending on to page 29 (hand 9). ‘Amen, a Mhuire, tabhair trocaire dhamh annsan alltar dheighionach et comarle mo leas san cendtar’ (hand 6).

(xix) Page 32 (folio 17 verso) “Comortus ann so re Tuathal Buidhe O Duibhgendán ar márbhán Eachtair mhoir mhec Prímh. Fintt” (hand 6). ‘...Dia maghn...’ (hand 4). Page 33 (folio 18 recto) ‘As maith in memr[u]m so ag[a]m’ (hand 2).

(xx) Page 35 (folio 19 recto) “Truagh lem in bás so thuas” (hand 2).

(xxi) Page 36 (folio 19 verso) ‘Sin mar sin’ (hand 2). Page 38 (folio 20 verso) ‘Is olc in togail sin do rinne me...ort’ (hand 8). ‘Bui Fergus m[a]c Roigh’; ‘lem’ added, page 39 (hand 10).

(xxii) Page 39 (folio 21 recto) ‘His’ (hand 10). ‘Da m[a]c ag Mag N[ua]dhad nar’, 1 quatrain; ‘Cinnus sin ⁊ cethrar ⁊ da .xx. san gene[lach]? Ni [ansa]. Fer fris nd[e]c(?) nebar dibh’ (hand 3).

(xxiii) Page 41 (folio 22 recto) ‘Commortus ann so’ (hand 11).

(xxiv) Page 42 (folio 22 verso) ‘Ihs Maria dom gratias. Misi Conairi mac Muiris hUi Moil tSetae d[o s]graif ar cin glain Tuothoil Vhuide’ (hand 6). ‘Ihs’ (hand 10). Page 44 (folio 23 verso) ‘...comairle...’ (hand 12). Page 46 (folio 24 verso) ‘A dhuine, gabh ar mo ghlor’, 1 quatrain (hand 6).

(xxv) Page 47 (folio 25 recto) ‘tabair’ (hand 6). Page 48 (folio 25 verso) “...óg...”; ‘Missi bottarrigilti na mprathar’ (hand 3).

The manuscript contains the following.

(i) Blank untreated vellum, bearing only random marks of knife or pumice. Traces of hand 14, illegible, bottom right (visible under ultra violet light). (Page i (folio 1 recto).)

(ii) Blank save for scattered notes, many illegible. They include the following (probably by hand 3, except where mentioned). ‘Comortus ann so re Giolla na Naomh qui...sgriobas. Et ego sum Donatus’. ‘Or[oid] ar anm[ain] fir in liub[air] so .i. Tuatail Buidhe ⁊ tabr[adh] S[ea]n O C(o)ncu(b)air(?) (a) b[en]nacht fora anmain’. On a portion of vellum stitched on with a thong to fill out a missing corner of the leaf: ‘Ag so an greim do ith an mhuc as a lamh dhall’. Hand 14: ‘Remember well and bere...hard to feind if ye find him not first and...not if...but...’ (visible under ultra violet light). (Page ii (folio 1 verso).)

(iii) Togail Troí, 2nd recension. Prologue beginning ‘Boi tra forbairt for claind Adhaim co dilind’ = Adv.MS.72.1.8, folios 29 recto, column b, line 1 and 29 verso, column a, line 1 = Book of Ballymote, folio 411, column a, line 1. First section beginning page 1 (folio 2 recto), column a, line 29, ‘Rogab ri uasal ordinde rige in domain .i. Satuirn m[a]c Polloir’ = Adv.MS.72.1.8, folio 29 verso, column a, line 23 = Book of Ballymote, folio 411, column b, line 10. Ends “Ité in sein aedheda Iasoin ⁊ Eta ⁊ Media. Finit. Imtechta Ercail in so sis”. Next section beginning, page 7 (folio 5 recto), column b, line 37, ‘Ba cumnech tra la Hercoil’ = Adv.MS.72.1.8, folio 32 verso, column a, line 18 = Book of Ballymote, folio 416, column a, line 14. Ends “Is sé tuc in crocend órda a tir na Colach. Finit”. Next section beginning page 11(folio 7 recto), column a, line 1, “In fer dorígni n[a]gníma sin” = Adv.MS.72.1.8, folio 33 verso, column b, line 31 = Book of Ballymote, folio 417, column b, line 45. Ends ‘Finit amen’. Next section beginning page 14(folio 8 verso), column b, line 1, “Sosar chlainne Lámidóin .i. Priaim” = Adv.MS.72.1.8, folio 35 verso, column a, line 16 = Book of Ballymote, folio 420, column b, line 40. At page 30 (folio 16 verso), column b, bottom of the page (= Book of Ballymote, folio 433, column a, middle of the page) is a marginal addition introduced by the words “Dul ele so this ⁊ and so thig cethic(?) ‘na egmais andsa lebarsa. Finit”. Marginal sub-headings by the scribe such as ‘Cath na Sighni so sis’, page 28, indicate battles and other events. Deaths are marked by crosses. That of Hector at page 35 draws a sympathetic comment from hand 2, see marginalia. The text was concluded at page 49 (folio 26 recto), column a, bottom of the page, but owing to the removal of the lower half of this leaf it now ends incomplete ‘In tan tra tainig feth for muir do Grecaib iar toghail na Trai forfhagsat in Trai iar n-uile dilgein ⁊ iarna dithlaithrugad co ler. Do chuadar co mbuaidh (c)os(cair) ⁊ co maidhem ⁊ co mainib ⁊ go moredalaib leo...’. For other versions see LL, volume 4, page 1063 (see Stokes, ‘Togail Troi’; Stokes, ‘The Destruction of Troy’, page 1. The three recensions and their sources are discussed by Mac Eoin in “Das Verbalsystem von Togail Troí”, page 76. See also Mac Eoin, “Ein Text von Togail Troí”, page 42. (Page 1 (folio 2 recto), column a, line 1.)

(iv) Notes (visible under ultra violet light) by various hands, including the following. Hand 14: ‘A treacherous Lord a King...’, 6 lines, signed ‘Donagh O Hagan’. (Lines 2-6 read: ‘Religions breath Rebellious.../Greate highland...Grand.../Y...cheifely were...princes trator/Lelly and.../Employd y....the...’). Hand 13: “Comortas ré fear an leabhuirsi”. Hand ?3: “Coimeas ann so ré fer”. Hand 4: ‘Tabair uisce let, tabhair g...’ Page 50 (folio 26 verso), no legible text. (Page 49 (folio 26 recto), column b.)