Muircheartach mac Pilib Ó Ceallaigh

Who is Muircheartach mac Pilib Ó Ceallaigh?

Muircheartach mac Pilib Ó Ceallaigh, Archbishop of Tuam and patron of An Leabhar Ua Maine, died 1407.

A son of Pilib Ó Ceallaigh, and a brother to William Buidhe Ó Cellaigh, King of Uí Maine and Chief of the Name.

While Bishop of Clonfert, Ó Ceallaigh commissioned the work known as Leabhar Ua Maine, written by ten scribes in Uí Maine before 1392 and after 1394. It includes a series of metrical dindsenchas, An Banshenchas, poems, genealogies and pedigrees. The largest single section is devoted to the origins and genealogies of the Ó Cellaigh dynasty of Ui Maine, its contents updated to the time of compilation. There were ten scribes, eight of whom are anonymous. It remained in the possession of the O'Kelly family till 1757.

He was elected archbishop of Tuam in the summer of 1392, but not translated from Clonfert until 26 January 1393. He died 29 September 1407.