Macariae Excidium, or the Destruction of Cyprus

Manuscript entitled Macariae excidium, or, The Destruction of Cyprus containing the last war & conquest of that kingdom written originally in Syriak by Philotas Phyloxypres, translated into Latin by Gratianus Ragallus P.R. and now made into English by C:ô K: anno domini: 1692. A transcript from the Latin manuscript, side by side with a translation into English by D.H. Kelly. Together with the manuscript are nine letters and notes, largely concerning the Latin manuscript and Kelly's translation (1843-1857):

• one letter from the Rev. James Scott to James Henthorn Todd, DD, Trinity College, Dublin;
• seven letters from James Henthorn Todd to D.H. Kelly;
• one letter from Thomas Keightley to John O'Donovan.

Charles O'Kelly (1621-1695), the author of Macariae Excidium, was a royalist army officer and historian. O'Kelly succeeded his father as lord of Screen in 1674. On the outbreak of civil war in 1689 O'Kelly, at the age of sixty-eight, volunteered for service in King James's Irish army. In 1692 he wrote the Macariae Excidium, or, The Destruction of Cyprus containing the last war ' conquest of that kingdom written originally in Syriak by Philotas Phyloxypres, translated into Latin by Gratianus Ragallus P.R. and now made into English by C:ô K: anno domini: 1692. This was a contemporary account of the 1689-1691 Jacobite rebellion in Ireland disguised as a classical history of Cyprus. Events and battles followed along similar paths and characters such as Amasis (James II), Theodore (William III), Lysander (Sarsfield), Pyrrhus (St Ruth), Ororis (General Ginkel), and Attillas (Cromwell) had their real world counterparts, while the two contending parties in the history, the Delphics and Martanensians, corresponded to the Catholics and Protestants respectively.

The manuscript was first printed in 1841 by the Camden Society in Narratives illustrative of the Contests in Ireland in 1641 and 1690 under the editorship of Thomas Crofton Croker who had obtained a manuscript copy of the work. It was afterwards 'edited, from four English copies, and a Latin manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy' by John Cornelius O'Callaghan, and printed for the Irish Archaeological Society (Dublin, 1850). The Latin manuscript preserved many passages not found in the English version. It was thought to have been translated by the Rev. John O'Reily [Gratianus Ragallus], but was later found to be in the autograph of Charles O'Kelly. D.H. Kelly was a descendant of Captain John Kelly, the brother of Charles O'Kelly. He probably translated the manuscript from a copy held by the Irish Archaeological Society.

James Henthorn Todd (1805-1869) was regius professor of Hebrew at the University of Dublin and from 1852 librarian at Trinity College. Todd's most substantial contribution to scholarship was in Irish studies, his work on which was centred mainly at the Royal Irish Academy. He was the academy's honorary secretary from 1847 to 1855, and president for five years from 1856. In 1840 he was a founder member of the Irish Archaeological Society, and contributed a number of publications to its proceedings. In the early 1840s, Todd acquired for the Irish Archaeological Society the Latin manuscript of Macariae Excidium. He purchased it from Rev. James Scott of Clowes who had in turn acquired it from Daniel O'Reily.

Sources: Piers Wauchope, 'O'Kelly, Charles (1621-1695)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. By permission of Oxford University Press - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/20659. E.M. Todd, 'Todd, James Henthorn (1805-1869)', rev. Sinéad Agnew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. By permission of Oxford University Press - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/27491.

A Latin copy of the Macariae excidium, from which this transcript was made, was discovered c 1842 in the possession of Rev. James Scott. It was purchased by Professor MacCulloch to be deposited in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy after publication. J.C. O'Callaghan edited the work, which was published under the title Macariae excidium (Dublin: Irish Archaeological Society, 1850). According to the preface of this work: 'The Latin MS., under an impression, at the time, of its being the original of Colonel O'Kelly's work, was transmitted to Denis Henry Kelly, Esq, of Castle Kelly... for the purpose of being translated by him into English. In 1843, the whole was translated, and transcribed for the press, by that gentleman.' Kelly learned that another copy was in the possession of his kinsman, Count O'Kelly Farrell in France. The manuscripts were compared and it was agreed that the Latin MS was not necessarily the original.

The Macariae excidium was published in Camden Society Publications volume 14 (1841) and later in an edition by J.C. O'Callaghan (Dublin: Irish Archaeological Society, 1850).