NIALL BYRNE, who has died after a short illness, changed career in later life from veterinary practice to become a distinguished historian of medieval Waterford.
Niall was born on November 4th, 1934 in the North Mall, Cork. His father, Patrick Vincent (PV) Byrne, was a veterinary surgeon and his mother Margaret O’Regan was PV’s second wife. Niall’s father had four children with his first wife, Kathleen O’Brien, who died of tuberculosis in 1933. Niall was the eldest child of the second marriage.
The family later settled in Tramore, and Niall studied at University College Dublin and the Veterinary College in the mid-1950s. In 1958 he married Sylvia Devlin, only child of Michael Ernest Devlin, a prominent Waterford bank manager, and Eileen O’Sullivan. The young couple spent a year in Edinburgh where Niall undertook postgraduate studies, then settled in Waterford where six children were born between 1959 and 1971.
After almost 40 years Niall sold his veterinary practice and embarked on the career he had always aspired to – historian. His major interest was in the ecclesiastical history of medieval Waterford. To equip himself for this work he took a bachelor of divinity (BD) degree from Heythrop College, London, followed by an MA, and a PhD from University College Cork. His first post-graduate project and his major contribution to Irish medieval historiography was to translate, annotate, and write an extensive commentary on Waterford’s Great Parchment Book.
Spanning a period from the 14th to the 17th century and written in a mixture of Norman French, Latin and English, The Great Parchment Book of Waterford (Liber Antiquissimus Civitatis Waterfordiae, is one of the most remarkable compilations of any Irish city. The manuscript comprises 233 folios of parchment with some of the capital letters rubricated in the earlier sections of the work while in later sections the capitals are lavishly decorated. The importance of the Great Parchment Book had been recognised by scholars since the 19th century. Although a number of short extracts from the manuscript had been published by Sir John Thomas Gilbert in the 19th century and microfilmed by the National Library of Ireland in the 1970s, the work remained largely inaccessible to scholars and historians until the full manuscript was transcribed and edited by Niall and published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission in 2007. This is without doubt his greatest achievement. It will shine a light of scholarship into one of the darkest corners of Irish urban history and become a standard work for scholars far into the future.
In 2008 Niall published The Irish Crusade, a history of the Knights Hospitaller, Knights Templar, and Knights of Malta in the south-east of Ireland. Research for this extensive work was part-funded by the Order of Malta to which Niall had been admitted as a member.
His deep interest in religious history made him immensely proud of his membership of the world’s oldest surviving order of chivalry.
Although he had begun to suffer from his last illness in early 2011, that year nonetheless saw the publication of his third book, a history of Waterford’s City and County Infirmary. He also completed a life history of his uncle, Patrick O’Regan, who had emigrated to the US in the 1920s.
He completed his fourth significant historical study, translating a late 14th / early 15th century cartulary housed at the British Library in London which contains detailed records of the establishment of a chantry chapel in Waterford’s medieval cathedral. This Register of St Saviour’s Chantry of Waterford (Registrum Cantariae S. Salvatoris Waterfordensis) will, funding permitting, be published in early 2013.
Niall had all the hallmarks of a true scholar. Always encouraging and never condescending, he was generous with his learning and historical insights. For over a decade he was a friend of Waterford Museum of Treasures. In the months before he died he was invited to be a member of the board of the museum, an invitation which gave him great pride and satisfaction.
Niall Byrne died at home on January 24th, 2012. He is survived by his wife Sylvia, sons Michael, Ronan, Simon and Graham, daughters Kim and Laura, brothers Paddy and Tommy, and sisters Joan, Peggy and Lily. – Dr MICHAEL BYRNE