Gospels of Máel Brigte

The codex includes the Latin text of the Gospels, along with glosses and prefatory material.

There are 156 vellum folios along with 2 parchment and 2 paper flyleaves which are not counted in the official foliation.

In addition to the text of the Gospels, the manuscript includes several pieces of prefatory material.

Máel Brigte alludes to various contemporary events, such as the killing of Cormac Mac Cárthaig by Toirdelbach Ua Briain which allow the writing of the manuscript to be dated to 1138.

In both of the miniatures, the artist has solved the problem presented by placing horizontally oriented animals in the space of the vertically oriented page by turning the animals ninety degrees so that they seem to walk up the page.

There are smaller initials at beginning of each section of the prefatory material, and at important texts within the Gospel, including the Pater Noster in Matthew (folio 19r), the Magnificat in the Luke (folio 88r), and the beginning of the Resurrection sequence in Luke.