Select document: the last will and testament of Diarmaid Ó Conchobhair, prior of Cluain Tuaiscirt na Sionna

Abstract

It was not common for members of religious orders in the late middle ages to make a last will and testament because profession as a regular removed their testamentary capacity. This article prints the Latin text of the testament of Brother Diarmaid Ó Conchobhair, prior of Cloontuskert na Sinna, O.S.A., County Roscommon, drawn up in 1462 and proved a year later in London, along with a translation. It also offers a discussion of the testament, including Ó Conchobhair’s stated intention of going on pilgrimage to Rome, in the light of otherevidence relating to both its testator and to the monastic orders in general in late medieval Ireland and England.