Unpublished biography of St Patrick to be restored

A previously unpublished biography of St Patrick will be restored thanks to an Irish-German collaboration.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin announced that the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trinity College Dublin and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities are collaborating to fund the restoration of the fire-damaged biography.

It is regarded as a foundation document for modern scientific research on Ireland's national saint.

This 575-page biography was compiled by one of Germany’s foremost Celticists, Heinrich Zimmer.

The important manuscript has not been seen by scholars in decades due to its fragile state.

Mr Zimmer (1851-1910) was Germany’s first professor of Celtic Studies and an Ordinary Member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences.

He completed a 575-page study of St Patrick in 1894, but it was never published.

When, Mr Zimmer’s private library burned down in 1903, the biography survived but with significant fire-damage.

It has been stored in the archive of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Mr Martin said that he was delighted to announce the partnership given the historical significance of the document.

"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," he said.

Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr Linda Doyle, said: "It is wonderful that this manuscript is now being restored and will be more widely available as the subject of academic scholarship.

"We are delighted to support Dr Immo Warntjes’ research in this fascinating field.

"I also welcome this opportunity to further deepen our research ties with Germany via the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, and I thank the Irish government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, for their generosity in facilitating this work."

The President of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Professor Christoph Markschies emphasised the importance of this "tremendous treasure."

"We are grateful that this treasure is now being restored with the generous support of the Embassy of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin and will therefore be made available to all interested researchers in the future - also in digital form," he said.

"Our late member Heinrich Zimmer would certainly have been just as pleased about this news as we were."