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An early example of printing in the Irish language.

In 1614 the Franciscan college at Leuven in Belgium established a printing press with a typeface in Irish. The item on display was printed on that press soon after it was established. It is the only known surviving copy of Suim Riaghlacha S[an] Phrionsias, a short summary of the Franciscan rule which governed the Order.

This fragile text survives because it was bound into a manuscript notebook compiled by an unidentified Irish member of the Franciscans. A note on the first page of the notebook suggests that it was at some point present in the library of the Irish College in Prague. It is not known how it subsequently made its way to Marsh's Library.

Citation:
Suim Riaghlacha S[an] Phrionsias ([Leuven], c.1614).,
Marsh's Library Exhibits,
accessed December 6, 2025,
https://www.marshlibrary.ie/digi/items/show/464