THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, 1848. 481 



recently made in deciphering these two kinds of writing, is 

 upon the ordinary assumption, and must be received with the 

 based reserve which necessarily attaches to a controverted posi- 

 tion. 



With Mr. O'Donovan's archaeological labours I regret to say 

 that I possess no direct acquaintance ; and, accordingly, in the 

 present notice of them, I am compelled to lean upon the friendly 

 aid of the Secretary of the Academy, who is himself a large con- 

 tributor to the same department of literature. 



Mr. O'Donovan's vast acquirements connected with Irish ar- 

 chseology may be traced, in a great measure, to his connexion 

 with the Ordnance Survey. In the course of the duties which this 

 connexion imposed upon him, he visited every part of Ireland for 

 the purpose of tracing the ancient names of places, and of collect- 

 ing the local traditions connected with them, all of which he 

 compared with the existing records in the historical manuscripts 

 preserved in the Libraries of the Academy and of the University. 

 The object of these inquiries was to collect materials for the His- 

 torical and Antiquarian memoirs, which it was the original inten- 

 tion of the enlightened officers at the head of the Irish Survey to 

 compile and publish, an intention which (as the Academy are 

 aware) was unhappily frustrated by the interference of Government. 

 In the researches in which Mr. O'Donovan was thus for many 

 years engaged, he acquired the vast amount of historical and topo- 

 graphical knowledge which his subsequent writings have displayed. 

 He availed himself of the same opportunities to perfect his acquaint- 

 ance with the dialects of the Irish language ; and he has thus been 

 enabled to throw a light on this department of philology, such as 

 probably no other could have done. 



The works edited by Mr. O'Donovan for the Irish Archaeo- 

 logical Society are the first of his published labours which claim our 

 attention. They are the following : 



1. " The Circuit of Ireland, by Maircheartach Mac Neill, Prince 

 of Aileach. A poem written in the year 942, by Cormacan Eigeas, 

 chief poet of the North of Ireland." 



2. " The Battle of Magh Rath(Moira), from an ancient manu- 

 script in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin." 



3. " An Account of the Tribes and Customs of the district of 

 Hy-Many, commonly called 'Kelly's Country, in the counties of 



2i 



