73 



" That the Volume which has been printed by Mr. Petrie, 

 as the twentieth volume of the Transactions, be received as 

 such ; and though it cannot be regarded as a complete Work, 

 that, nevertheless, the Council do recommend it to be taken, 

 as acquitting Mr. Petrie of his engagements to the Academy. 



Resolved unanimously, — That the recommendation of 

 Council be received and adopted. 



Read, — The following letter from Messrs. Hodges and 

 Smith : 



" 104, Grafton-street, 

 ''^jjrilMth, 1845. 



"Sir, — Having been informed that a person of the name of 

 O'Brien, in the County of Clare, had some curioua ancient docu- 

 ments which he would dispose of, we went down to that county for 

 the purpose of examining them. We found his collection to con- 

 sist chiefly of family documents and papers of little moment, with 

 the exception of four pages of the celebrated work known by the 

 name of Leabhar Breac. Those pages contain a beautiful Latin 

 Hymn to St. Patrick, by Secundinus, and other interesting matter. 

 They have been missing for upwards of fifty years, and we have 

 now much pleasure in restoring them to the Academy, whose pro- 

 perty the Leabhar Breac has been for many years ; and we also 

 beg to present two copies of Mac Firbis's work on the Genealogy of 

 ancient Irish Families, written in 1650, and another volume con- 

 taining an abstract of the same great work, written by James 

 M'Guire, in 1721 ; and, fifthly, a very good copy of Keating's 

 History of Ireland, written in 1712. 



" We have the Honour to be, Sir, 



" Your very obedient Servants, 



" Hodges and Smith. 

 " To the Secretary of the 



Royal Irish Academy T 

 Resolved, — That the thanks of the Academy be given 

 to Messrs. Hodges and Smith for their donation. 

 VOL. in. G 



