THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY 175 



ing societies ; and later, the Rev. Denis Taaffe l trans- 

 lated several tracts from Dutch and German authors, 

 and made a catalogue of Dutch and German books 

 belonging to the Society. R. E. Mercier compiled, in 

 1797, a catalogue of the library, and in 1806, the 

 catalogue was ordered to be printed. 



In 1795, General Vallancey recommended the 

 appointment of the Rev. Dr. John Lanigan, whom 

 he had known in Italy, for employment in the 

 library, a recommendation that was endorsed by 

 Lord Donoughmore. He became librarian in 1808, 

 and during his tenure of that office he performed 

 his duties with marked efficiency. Dr. Lanigan 

 translated a number of works for the Society, and 

 corrected the proof sheets of the Statistical Surveys. 

 This remarkable man was born in Cashel in I75^> 

 and being intended for the priesthood, he was sent at 

 an early age to the Irish College, Rome. He was sub- 

 sequently appointed professor of Hebrew and Divinity 

 at Pavia, returning to Ireland in 1794. During the 

 previous year had appeared the first part of his In- 

 stitutiones Biblicce, which caused him to be looked on 

 as a Jansenist, and Dr. Lanigan found it difficult to 

 procure an ecclesiastical appointment in this country. 

 He was, however, made professor of Sacred Scripture 

 and Hebrew in Maynooth College, a post which he 

 speedily resigned on being asked to subscribe a special 

 formula. It was at this time that Dr. Lanigan's valuable 

 services were placed at the disposal of the Society. He 

 began to suffer from brain disease in 1813, and in 

 1815 resigned the librarianship, retaining for a time his 



1 Born in the county Louth in 1743. He was author of a History 

 of Ireland, and wrote several pamphlets on Ireland and the Roman 

 Catholic Church. Rev. Denis Taaffe was one of the founders of the 

 Gaelic Society in 1808, and he died in Dublin in 1813. 



