208 



to 1468. Translated from a lost Irish original, by Dudley Fir- 

 bisse." 



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

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

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

 and genealogical information connected with the ancient families 

 referred to ; and he 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 appella- 

 tions. 



Among the works of Mr. O'Donovan enumerated by the Coun- 

 cil, 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 col- • 

 lected 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 Royal Irish Academy. The publication of this curious and 

 important chronicle had been long and earnestly desired by Irish 

 scholars. The language in which it is written was fast becoming 

 obsolete, and another half century would probably have interposed 

 a serious difficulty in its interpretation ; while the curious mass 

 of information which Mr. O'Donovan has brought together in 

 illustration of it, — collected, as it has been, in a great part, from 

 oral traditions, — would, in all likelihood, have been wholly lost. 

 This work will ever remain a monument of the learning and la- 



