I propose that the manuscript is at least partially based in The Burren of County Clare and the cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
I'll provide comparison of the botany drawn in the manuscript and that of the biodiverse region of The Burren and other coinciding climatic, historical and mythological elements.
I will also provide some textual evidence from the manuscript (the textual element will presuppose that my Irish translation has already been evaluated and deemed accurate. The textual element will be considered anecdotal evidence for the time being. I ask that this be entertained and that your overarching linguistic analysis take a backseat for this thread).
This thread will also look at the manuscript choices, the chemistry in pigment and the need for gall ink with climate, as well as the use/sharing and passing of the manuscript as an object of purpose both as it was made and in the following years.
In my research now, I'm trying to narrow down some things geographically now that I know there are some places referenced by name. I have reason to believe the woods near a Monastery in County Clare may be referenced. This thread will also discuss the history of Irish Monks and Nuns spending time in and around Italy and the movement of the manuscript leading up to and after Italy.
I will make different posts for different topics on here and hopefully it develops into a conversation.
I first suspected the Cliffs of Moher after I translated the small label on 65r as "Beeswing tight oil". When searching for images to include for Beeswing on my Github, I noticed a lot of the Beeswing that came up looked more like more like Dahlia, or Little Beeswing until I saw Beeswing specific to the Cliffs of Moher. I made a TikTok a while back about this.
The other day in the Marginalia thread on VoynichNinja, this small stamp/script came up and I didn't read it as Latin, I read it as Irish:
Moher (Mhothair) Cliffs (aillte) along with the word Tuig (understand), Tuin (Tone, Accent) or Tuinn (Wave).
I am not a historian or paleographer but I found some scripts from the same time period to compare.
Several plants I've identified through translation alone, are native and/or specific to The Burren. (However some are still more common in a other areas like Crete and Portugal)
An abundance of environmental textual evidence along with a few mythical creatures/themes/stories coincide with the region as well.
I'll include these in a separate posts so this stays organized.
There has been quite a lot of discussion about the phrase at the top of folio 17, including how the MSI images reveal more of the text and make it more clear. It is definitely not Irish. See this thread, which has been going on for years:
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(21-11-2025, 03:59 AM)LisaFaginDavis Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.There has been quite a lot of discussion about the phrase at the top of folio 17, including how the MSI images reveal more of the text and make it more clear. It is definitely not Irish. See this thread, which has been going on for years:
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Yes, what you just linked is exactly what I referenced above. The Marginalia thread, I read through the entire thing the other day
How do you/we know it is definitely not Irish?
(21-11-2025, 04:23 AM)Doireannjane Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (21-11-2025, 03:59 AM)LisaFaginDavis Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.There has been quite a lot of discussion about the phrase at the top of folio 17, including how the MSI images reveal more of the text and make it more clear. It is definitely not Irish. See this thread, which has been going on for years:
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Yes, what you just linked is exactly what I referenced above. The Marginalia thread, I read through the entire thing the other day
How do you/we know it is definitely not Irish?
IIRC the Voynich community is almost certain it was made in Western Europe. If you want to produce some strong evidence for an Irish origin of the Voynich, present it right now. Were the materials made from ingredients native to Ireland, for example? That would be
very strong evidence for an Irish origin.
Right now? Sure haha. That’s a little intense.
So, azurite was used commonly in several European countries. The vellum and ink are not determined to be from a particular region. The ink used was waterproof and there could be a practical reason there. The pigments and ink were relatively common and inexpensive as well.
It could have been made in Italy or elsewhere, not necessarily Ireland. I said the manuscript is likely at least partially
based in Ireland, not necessarily written in Ireland (although translation leads me to believe it was)
Copper alloy quills could account for the additional cuprite found.
Interesting read:
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Moderator note: normally we try to obey the one thread per theory rule, but I agreed with Doireann to start over here.
Let's try to keep it civil this time.
(21-11-2025, 07:54 AM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Let's try to keep it civil this time.
Are you saying this because people were flinging shit like gorillas last thread? You are, aren't you.... Yeah, the last thread wasn't too much of a Platonic ideal of civil discussion lol.
Doireannjane Wrote:
The vellum and ink are not determined to be from a particular region.
As in lab tests were indeterminate?
To your first question, yes, though that particular phrasing isn't part of my active vocabulary.
Second question, we know what the inks and pigments are, but they were widely available all over medieval Europe. So they can't be used to narrow down a region.
Ah ok, so in addition to the copper nib of the quill contributing additional copper and cuprite, the distinct hematite and palmierite components of the red ochre could be directly linked to Ireland.
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