Description

This edition of the William O'Donnell 1603 Irish New Testament is made available to the reader along with the English text of the 1769 King James Bible in parallel. The KJV text is included to allow for easier understanding of older Irish words in the Irish text. Each chapter and verse is side-by-side on each page of this edition allowing for direct comparisons and better understanding of the meanings of the texts.

The original work began when Queen Elizabeth commissioned it in 1571, at her own expense. The work of translating from the Greek texts of the New Testament was begun in 1573 by Nicholas Walsh, John Kearney (or O'Cearnagh), William O'Donnell, from Kilkenny, Nehemiah O'Donellan, and Máoilin óg Mac Brody. Their work took nearly 25 years to complete, and then five more years to set the type and put to print by John Francton the printer.