The Book of Armagh or Codex Ardmachanus (ar or 61), also known as the Canon of Patrick and the Liber Ar(d)machanus, is a 9th-century Irish manuscript written mainly in Latin. It is held by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin (MS 52). The document is valuable for containing early texts relating to St Patrick and some of the oldest surviving specimens of Old Irish and for being one of the earliest manuscripts produced by an insular church to contain a near complete copy of the New Testament.

The manuscript was once reputed to have belonged to St. Patrick and, at least in part, to be a product of his hand. Research has determined, however, that the earliest part of the manuscript was the work of a scribe named Ferdomnach of Armagh (died 845 or 846). Ferdomnach wrote the first part of the book in 807 or 808, for Patrick's heir (comarba) Torbach. Two other scribes are known to have assisted him.

The text is written in two columns in a fine pointed insular minuscule. The manuscript contains four miniatures, one each of the four Evangelists' symbols. Some of the letters have been colored red, yellow, green, or black. The manuscript is associated with a tooled-leather satchel, believed to be of great antiquity.

It contains text of Vulgate, but there are many Old Latin readings in the Acts and Pauline epistles.

Book of Armagh Illustrations

Illustration 1

	Page (Folio): 32v the symbols of Four Evangelists (man, lion, calf and eagle)