76 Royal Irish Academy. 



ISTotliing appears in the Minute-book of this Committee with refe- 

 rence to the estimates for the work, but on the Minute-book of the 

 Publication Committee, under date December 1st, 1873, is recorded a 

 Eesolution accepting the estimate of Messrs. Browne & !N"olan, on 

 certain conditions of type, &c. 



The Report of Council for the year, read March 14th, 1874, con- 

 tains the following passage bearing on the publication of this work : — 



" An edition of some of the most interesting ancient Irish Historic 

 Tales, with translation, has been commenced, and will be pubKshed 

 uniformly with the Irish MSS. series. The first of the tales, the 

 Tain B6 Cuailnge, will appear, it is hoped, in the course of the 

 present year. It will be edited by Dr. Sullivan, and the translation 

 will be the joint work of that gentleman and Mr. O'Looney." 



There seems to have been a general understanding that Professor 

 O'Looney would aid Dr. Sullivan, but the Committee have no record 

 on their books of any communication whatever having passed between 

 them and Mr. O'Looney on the subject of this work until the present 

 year. 



In the beginning of the year 1876 the Council felt it to be desira- 

 ble to endeavour to obtain some satisfactory account of the progress of 

 this work, which the report of March, 1874, had announced as in pre- 

 paration, with the hope that it would appear in the year 1874-5, and 

 accordingly, on March 11th, 1876, a Resolution was passed — 



" That Dr. Sullivan be requested to furnish a Report on the extent 

 and progress of the printing of the volume of Tain B6 CuaUnge, 

 entrusted to him to edit, and that he be requested to furnish copies of 

 all the sheets as printed." 



At the time when this request was made. Dr. Sullivan seems to 

 have interpreted the request of the Council for information as a desire 

 on their part to subject his work to criticism, and accordingly replied 

 as follows : — 



'" Queen's College, Coek, 



'' 2^rd March, 1876. 

 *'Mt deae De. Ingeam, 



" Excuse me for not having answered your letter about the Tain 

 Bo Cuailnge ere this. I could not do so sooner, and therefore not in 

 time for your Report, as I had to make some inquiries as to the amount 

 of matter set up in type, the state of the ' copy' of the text for the 



