Irish manuscripts will be available on the Internet from this Thursday following co-operation between three education partners - DCU, TCD and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. The project, which is entitled Irish Script on Screen (ISOS), is available at the website.

Among the manuscripts will be the Book of Leinster, which was compiled in the second half of the 12th century. There are a number of medical manuscripts comprising Irish versions of Latin treatises. Most of these are written on vellum by scribes from hereditary medical families such as Cassidy, Dunleavy, Hickey and Lee.

The project has been managed by Dr Padraig O Machain, assisted by Dr Aoibheann Nic Dhonnchadha, at the School of Celtic Studies, at the DIAS. The School of Computer Applications at Dublin City University has been developing and will maintain the website while TCD is responsible for matters of conservation and preservation, in addition to providing the manuscripts themselves.

Manuscripts for the initial stage of project were provided by Mount Mellary Abbey in Co Waterford. Colaiste na Rinne in Ring, Co Waterford, also made a number of from its manuscript collection available to the project.