For more than a century a vitally important biography of Saint Patrick has been gathering dust in an archive in Berlin.
The manuscript has never been published and few have seen it, but according to the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, it should be regarded as “a foundation document for modern scientific research on Ireland’s national saint.”
The book was written by German Professor, Heinrich Zimmer, in 1894. It suffered fire damage, but survived the destruction of Professor Zimmer’s library in 1903.
A joint project between the Berlin academy and Trinity College Dublin will work to painstakingly restore the 575-page manuscript. Around one-fifth of the document is thought to be in a dangerously fragile state.
Professor Heinrich Zimmer was the world’s first Professor for Celtic Languages.
Born in the Rhineland in 1851, he spent time studying at important European universities in Strasbourg, Tübingen and Berlin, before being appointed Professor of Sanskrit and Philology in Greifswald in north-eastern Germany at the age of 30. In 1901, Zimmer was appointed Professor for Celtic Languages at Berlin University.
“The Archive of the Academy of Sciences possesses a tremendous treasure in the manuscript of the biography of the Irish national saint St Patrick”, said the academy’s current president, Professor Christoph Markschies.
It is expected to take months for the pages to be restored. The document will also be scanned so that a digital copy will be available to Irish and international researchers.
The government is supporting the project through the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Irish embassy in Berlin.
“I am sure that this ambitious restoration will shine a new light on Ireland’s patron saint, contributing to the increasing popularity Irish studies has been enjoying across Germany in recent years”, said Tánaiste, Micheál Martin.