Historic fourteenth-century manuscript on public display for the first time.
A remarkable fourteenth-century manuscript, the Red Book of Ossory, has returned to St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, where it was written 700 years ago. On loan from the Representative Church Body (RCB) Library, the Red Book is on public display for the first time in history in a new exhibition running until July 2025.
An important historical document, the Red Book has survived the centuries despite plagues, war and the passage of time. Significant entries among its pages include a letter from King Edward III, an early provision of the Magna Carta, poems and songs, traditions, laws and taxes.
The Red Book was commissioned by Bishop Richard Ledrede, who held the see of Ossory from 1317 to 1360. Ledrede was born in England in the late 1300s and was a member of the Franciscan Order before becoming a bishop. Known as ‘the most extraordinary bishop to ever hold the see of Ossory’, he is perhaps most famous for his role in the 1324 witch trial of Alice Kyteler, a wealthy Kilkenny noblewoman. His accusations of heresy and witchcraft created significant conflict with local nobility and led to a power struggle between Church and State. A man of faith and science, Ledrede wanted to reinvigorate his diocese. He was known for his rigid enforcement of ecclesiastical laws, such as banning clergy from playing football on cathedral grounds and forbidding them from having concubines. To bring order and stability to the townspeople and clergy, he set out his vision within the pages of the Red Book.
The 79-page vellum artefact offers a glimpse into medieval Kilkenny and the life of ordinary citizens through the lens of Bishop Ledrede. It holds the earliest recorded recipe for distilling aqua vitae, used for medicinal purposes in the Middle Ages as the plague ravaged Europe. Just after the Black Death, when over a third of Ireland’s population died, Ledrede recorded the height of modern science at the time: a three-page shorthand Latin recipe for aqua vitae. Aqua vitae, the ‘water of life’ or uisce beatha, is today known as whiskey.
Another noteworthy inclusion is a letter from Edward III written in 1360, stating his concern that the English in Ireland had ‘gone native’ and were no longer loyal. By this time the Anglo-Normans had married into the Irish population and absorbed their customs.
An early provision of the Magna Carta, which influenced modern democracies and legal systems, is preserved in the Red Book, along with records of Church, State and law, theology, taxes and rents. The bishop composed poems and songs to replace the ‘vile’ secular songs of the townspeople. The book also sets out several crimes that could lead to excommunication, including violence towards the bishop, slander, tax avoidance and farming on church land.
During the conservation treatment in 2017, Dr John Gillis, Chief Manuscript Conservator, examined the Romanesque bindings that make the Red Book so unique today. He found the original sewing and binding structure intact, allowing a rare insight into the creation of a fourteenth-century book. Medieval publishing was difficult and time-consuming. The parchment was likely made from treated sheepskin. Vellums were folded and sewn together onto red leather supports, giving the manuscript its name. The ink was created with a mixture of gum Arabic (a gum made from tree sap), soot and water. Less than 2% of manuscripts from that time have survived—fewer with their original binding intact.
The Red Book of Ossory is the centre-piece of a year-long exhibition that will take visitors on a journey through its pages to explore life in Ireland in the fourteenth century. The exhibition presents unique insights into medieval Ireland, the events leading to the witch trials, democracy and rights, poems and songs of the time, aqua vitae, the Magna Carta, King Edward’s letter and more. St Canice’s Cathedral and Round Tower has developed a programme of talks, events and workshops to accompany the exhibition. At present the ‘turn’ is on festive songs and poems. Every twelve weeks a new vellum is displayed to unveil new passages, while protecting the pages and spine of the ancient manuscript. Written in Latin, Old English and French, it was intended for well-educated church members in the 1300s. Today it is displayed for all to see.
Further information: www.stcanicescathedral.ie.