The Divine Office is a daily cycle of prayer, divided into eight \u2018Hours\u2019, such as Vespers, Matins, Lauds etc. In the Middle Ages, special texts and chants were composed for Holy Days, including feast-days of saints considered important to an individual community or locality. In the case of St Colmcille, whose feast is 9 June, two offices survive with music notation, one Irish, one Scottish, dating from the early 14th<\/sup> to the 15th<\/sup> centuries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n The Irish manuscript is a processional (a book containing chants for the office procession), used at the parish church of St John the Evangelist, Dublin, but probably originally from the neighbouring Christ Church Cathedral whose clergy served St John\u2019s. It is now in Marsh\u2019s Library Dublin. The Scottish source is a fragment of an antiphonary (a book containing all the music for the office) from Inchcolm Abbey, a 12th<\/sup>-century Augustinian foundation in the Firth of Forth dedicated to Colmcille.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three pieces from these manuscripts can be heard at the links below. They are sung by the Amra Schola under the direction of Dr Ann Buckley. The recording was made at a live performance at Christ Church Cathedral Dublin on the 8th June 2019, the Vigil, or Eve, of the Feast. The performance was part of an event organised by Foras na Gaeilge and B\u00f2rd na G\u00e0idhlig to raise awareness of the 1500th anniversary of the birth of St Colmcille. The programme included a lecture by Dr Brian Lacey on St Colmcille, and story telling by Gear\u00f3id\u00edn Bhreathnach, and an illustrated lecture by Dr Ann Buckley on the liturgical offices of St Colmcille.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Texts and further information are available in a pdf file here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Holy](\"https:\/\/colmcille.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/james-coleman-QHRZv6PIW4s-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
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