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Research

Current catalogue entries for these manuscripts contain mostly minimal, and often incorrect, information. Up to the late 20th century, manuscripts such as these in the libraries of Western Europe would have been considered as belonging to the subject of 'Orientalism' and were often viewed through the narrow lens of Biblical and theological studies, as opposed to the language and culture in which they were created.

The research conducted as part of this project will provide a fresh perspective on the Arabic collection. Outputs will include more accurate and comprehensive information on the contents and provenance of individual manuscripts.

It must be acknowledged - defining terms such as 'Arab' and 'Islamic' is challenging. The term 'Islamic' includes the cultural dimension rather than a solely religious one, and encompasses Christian and Jewish communities, too. As a religion, Islam blends into society and structures people's quotidian life, whether they subscribe to it or not. Arab and Islamic culture is predicated on the rich cultural exchange that came naturally out of geographic expansion and trade relations and Islamic religion and society in turn was heavily impacted by the cultures and religions it interacted with. The outcome was a colourful mosaic that left its impact in different spheres, such as literature, religion, science, architecture, culinary practices and so much more. In the wake of 'Oriental Studies' which conflate Arabic, Islamic, and other imagined categories together, it is the challenge of our contemporary field to redefine how collections are researched, catalogued, and archived. The study of these manuscripts must be approached with the full awareness of the complexity of each term and the inevitability of using applied labels.

In this vein, we aim to contextualise these manuscripts within the broader European colonial legacy. At the centre of this discourse is how manuscripts travelled to Ireland from various places in the 'Middle East', North and West Africa, and South Asia, among other places. The provenance and journey of the manuscripts from their homelands to Ireland is inscribed in the history of the manuscripts themselves. The role of a past colony in preserving artefacts and manuscripts taken out of other former colonies like Egypt and Syria is interesting and changes, as well as challenges, the assumed pattern of objects traveling from a colony to a clearly defined colonial entity.

Research Team