SUBJECT PROPOSED 



BY 



THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY. 



" The social and political state of the people of Ireland from the commencement of the 

 Christian era to the twelfth century, their advancement or retrogression in science, 

 literature, and the arts, and the character of their moral and religious opinions as 

 connected vvith their civil and ecclesiastical institutions, so far as can be gleaned from 

 any original writings prior to the commencement of the sixteenth century, exclusive 

 of those in the Irish and other Celtic languages; every statement to be supported, not 

 by references only, but by extracts in the form of notes or an appendix ; and it is 

 expected that every accessible source of information shall be examined under the 

 above limitation." 



The Author of the following Essay, feeling the responsibility he 

 has incurred in occupying so many pages of the volume of a literary 

 body, was reluctant to enlarge the work beyond the state in which it 

 passed through the Academy, although the vote of its council had 

 kindly sanctioned any additions which he could have deemed judi- 

 cious. He has, however, under that permission introduced some few 

 observations, which, as leading to identify him, would not have been 

 justifiable, while the papers of his competitors on the subject were 



VOL. XVI. b 



