The manuscript is composed of three sections:
The Book of Piety This section was written by Ciothruadh Mág Fhionngoill of
Tory Island,
County Donegal, in 1513–14, for Máire Ní Mháille, wife of Ruaidhrí Mac Suibhne Fanad. It includes devotional material well known in late medieval Europe, such as
Gospel of Nicodemus, a life of
the Virgin Mary and the finding of the
True Cross by Saint Helena. The content of this portion has much in common with the manuscript
Liber Flavus Fergusiorum. Other material dealt with Sunday observance; the fourteen benefits of the Mass; the conditions necessary for confession, and a variety of moral tales and snippets of spiritual advice. The text also contains stories the lives of major Irish saints,
Saint Patrick and
Columba, female saints such as
Saint Margaret and Catherine, and notes on
St Patrick's Purgatory in County Donegal. While the language of the manuscript is
Irish, the contents are typical of European devotional literature of the period.
The History of the McSweeneys of Fanad This section was written by Tadhg Mac Fithil.
The Poems The final section of the manuscript includes twenty-four poems dedicated to three different chiefs of the family, including elegy on Ruaidhrí Mac Suibhne (d.1518) as well as poems praising Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne and his brother Domhnall. ==See also==