O'Flaherty: Ogygia

O'Flaherty, Roderic. Ogygia, Volume 1. Dublin: W. M’ Kenzie, 1793.

Ogygia, seu rerum Hibernicarum chronologia , a work dedicated to James II, was first published in London in 1685. In the work O'Flaherty takes the island Ogygia (the island of Calypso in Homer’s Odyssey) as an allegory for Ireland.

O'Flaherty, Roderic. Ogygia, Volume 1. Dublin: W. M’ Kenzie, 1793.

O'Flaherty, Roderic. Ogygia, Volume 1. Dublin: W. M’ Kenzie, 1793.

Ogygia, seu rerum Hibernicarum chronologia , a work dedicated to James II, was first published in London in 1685. In the work O'Flaherty takes the island Ogygia (the island of Calypso in Homer’s Odyssey) as an allegory for Ireland.

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Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh (1629-1718), also known as Roderic O’Flaherty, was born in Co. Galway. He was an Irish historian and the last recognised chief of the O’Flaherty clan.

He was born at his father’s castles at Moycullen, which he later inherited along with a vast estate. However, his estates were seized by the Cromwellian land confiscations as a result of his continued devotion to his Catholic faith, leaving him impoverished.

He was a highly regarded historian and collector of Irish manuscripts. His two most accomplished works are Ogygia and Iar Connacht. The latter of these works was written in English in 1684 (though not published until 1846) and gives a first-hand account of the geography and natural history of West Connacht.

Ogygia, seu rerum Hibernicarum chronologia , a work dedicated to James II, was first published in London in 1685. In the work he takes the island Ogygia (the island of Calypso in Homer’s Odyssey) as an allegory for Ireland. Drawing on numerous ancient documents, Ogygia attempted to apply developments in chronology to the Irish mythological age. As well as arguing that the kingdom of Ireland was older than either the kingdom of England or Scotland, the book argues that Milesius was the common descendent of the Goidelic people.

Originally published in Latin, this edition from 1793 has been translated into English by the Reverend James Hely.