158 Proceedings of the Boifal Trixh Aeailcnvi. 



hiniself, but rather " caused it to be printed," or i:iro\aded for its printing, as 

 an editor or publisher might do in these days. Hence tlie question of the 

 actual iirinter is still left open ; and the conjecture I will jiut forward now is 

 not wholly imt«nable or inconsistent with the imprint on the broadside. 



At the same time, or immediately afterwards, appeared the "Alphabet 

 and Catechism " in Iri-sh, a 12mo measuring 5-{-^ inches by of inches. It 

 consists of fifty-four pages, numbered, and two pages of Errata, &c. In 

 both the broadside poem and the Catecliism are found initial letters 

 that were use<l by Humfrey Powell at an earlier date, wliich seems to 

 imlicate that liis press or some of his type, &c., had continued on here, probably 

 in possession of the Government for wliom he worked, and may have lieeu 

 used in the interval. The Catechism wa.s prepareil and puljlished by John 

 O'Kearney or Kearney — the name ha.'i various spellings. He, too, was not a 

 printer ; but he and Nicholas Walsh were tlie persons to wliom were entrusted 

 the printing of the Catechism, and the translation of the New Testament into 

 Irish.' So far no direct iiarticulare of who wa.s or wei-e the actual printers 

 who set up this Irish tyjx* are on record. Perhaps John O'Kearney him.self 

 (lid so; but we will shortly find mention of a William Kearney, a relative of 

 John O'Keaniey, who i«m a printer; and of him I propose now to make 

 mention. 



The Government in England represented by the Privy Council there, 

 having decided to have the New Testament translated into Irish and then 

 printe<l, though there seems to have l»een much ilelay over the matter, in the 

 montli of August, 1587, wrote a letter t*i the I>ord Deputy and Council of 

 Ireland, and refen-etl in it U.) lx)th John O'Kearney and Nicholas Walsh, who 

 had then translate<l the New Testament into Irish, but stated that the reason 

 why it had not licen printed was the lack of native Irish printers. The letter 

 further procee<letl to state that the manuscript of John O'Keaniey was then 

 in the hands of his relative William Kearney — the name is sj^elt " Carney," 

 though there can be no doubt that it means " Kearney " — and of him it states 

 that during a period of fourteen years, Ixith in England and foreign parts, this 

 WHliam Kenmry had l)ecomea master in the art of printing, knowing the Irish 

 well, and how Irish tj"pe should 1« ma<le and made use of ; and they acconlingly 

 recommende<l him to the Irish Coimcil as a proper jwrson to V)e entrusted 

 with the printing. Kearney is six>ken of as the Itearer of the letter, though, 

 strange to say, no reference to it is to l)e foimd in the Public Calendar of the 

 Irish State Papers. The letter in question is to be found in the Acts of the 

 Priv}' Council (of England), edited by Mr. Dasent. Calculating back fourteen 



' John n'Kisimer ami Ni< hola.« Will^^ w<>re iligiiitnrios nf St. P«lrirk'» Onlliwlral. 



