482 ADDRESS DELIVERED AT A MEETING OF 



Galway and Boscommon. Edited from the Book of Lecan, in the 

 Library of the Eoyal Irish Academy." 



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

 Hy-Fiachrach, in the counties of Sligo and Mayo. Edited from 

 the Book of Lecan, in the Library of the Eoyal Irish Academy, and 

 from a copy of the Mac Firbis manuscript in the possession of the 

 Earl of Eoden." 



Mr. O'Donovan has also edited the following minor pieces in 

 the Miscellany of the Irish Archaeological Society, viz. : " An an- 

 cient poem attributed to St. Columbkille ; " " The Irish Charters in 

 the Book of Kells ;" " A covenant in Irish between Mageoghegan 

 and the Fox ; " and " The Annals of Ireland from A. D. 1453 to 

 1468. Translated from a lost Irish original, by Dudley Firbisse." 



These historical tracts and bardic tales are edited, for the most 

 part, in the original Irish, with translations and notes. In the 

 latter Mr. O'Donovan has brought together a vast body of historical 

 and genealogical information connected with the ancient families 

 referred to ; and ho has illustrated the subjects with much curious 

 antiquarian lore, respecting the manners and customs of the times. 

 He has also, in many cases, annexed maps of the districts described, 

 and topographical indexes, in which the etymology of the ancient 

 names is given, together with the corresponding modern appel- 

 lations. 



Among the works of Mr. O'Donovan enumerated by the Council 

 in awarding him the Cunningham Medal, [is his Irish grammar. 

 This work was undertaken for the use of the senior classes in the 

 College of St. Columba, and was published at the expense of the 

 trustees of that institution. The publication has supplied a want 

 long felt by the philologers of Europe ; and the Celtic student is 

 now in possession of a grammar compiled by a scholar who has 

 studied the ancient language as it exists in our manuscript litera- 

 ture, and whose judgment and learning have enabled him to discri- 

 minate between the original and characteristic grammatical forms, 

 and the accidental peculiarities belonging to particular districts or 

 periods. The vast body of examples which Mr. O'Donovan has 

 collected from Irish MSS., in illustration of this work, contributes 

 greatly to enhance its value. 



But Mr. O'Donovan's principal work is his edition of the Annals 

 of the Four Masters, from the autograph manuscript in the Library 

 of the Eoyal Irish Academy. The publication of this curious and 



