Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 



thirty years in the understanding of our ancient literature. It is 

 often said that the task of forwarding tliis study has been left entii'ely 

 to foreign scholars ; but without seeking to underestimate our debt 

 to France and Germany, we may fairly claim that the series of 

 publications which the Academy began in 1870, and has since 

 continued at a great expense of labour and money, has giyen to Irish 

 scholarship the greatest impetus it has received since the publication 

 of the Grammatica Celtica. 



Soon after the publication of the Book of Leinster, Atkinson was 

 entrusted with the direction of another undertaking of much wider 

 scope. The preparation of a complete Dictionary of the Irish 

 Language was a project which the Academy had long had at heart. 

 But great difficulties stood in the way ; and down to 1880 no step had 

 been taken towards making an actual beginning. Atkinson did not 

 underrate the obstacles to be overcome ; but the project was one 

 which appealed to his interest in linguistic science, and his passion 

 for work was too ardent to be easily daunted. This is not the place 

 to describe the immense laboui' required of the lexicographer, or to 

 discuss the special obstacles he must surmount in the case of such a 

 language as the Irish. It is necessary, however, to call attention 

 to two peculiar difficulties which had to be encountered ; difficulties 

 which were not necessarily inherent in che work, but were due to the 

 deplorable apathy with which the great mass of the people of Ireland 

 has until quite recently regarded its literary inheritance. These 

 were : first, the want of money ; and, secondly, the want of skilled 

 workers. The only funds available were the annual grant from 

 the Government, and the few hundred pounds of the Hudson Gift. 

 With such narrow means, it was impossible to employ more than one 

 or two assistants on a work where a score would have been few 

 enough. But even if the funds had been as abundant as they were 

 scanty, there remained the greater difficulty of finding workers with 

 the necessary qualifications. Very few persons could be met with 

 who possessed at once sufficient acquaintance with the language and 

 also the scholarly training indispensable for such a task. Under 

 such conditions the task was begun ; a small number of workers 

 were employed to collect material; and their collections have by 

 slow degrees accumulated down to the present day. Meanwhile, 

 Atkinson, as editor, was engaged on studies intended to prepare 



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