The Irish Hand presents an illustrated anthology and exemplar of Irish calligraphy over ten centuries. It has been substantially revised since the first edition published by Dolmen Press in 1984.



The Irish Hand is arranged in two parts. The first is an anthology of high-quality full-page color photographic plates of the thirty most celebrated Irish manuscripts, with a commentary analyzing the contents and history of each manuscript and with notes on their scripts and the scribes. The second part examines the historical evolution of Irish script (the Irish hand), tracing that tradition to our own time.